Summary:  Is Kenney just after the Ponderosa or does he have hidden allies?  What of Kit Hammond, is the British heir to the Circle H really Ben’s ally or his enemy?
Rating:  PG  (46,905 words)

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The British Ally

 

Chapter 1

 

“I’ve told you more times than I can count, that tract of land is not for sale and neither is the timber that’s on it,” Ben Cartwright stated as calmly as he could.

He was seated at a table in the upper room of the Crystal Saloon, at a board meeting of the Eldorado Mine.  He was a major shareholder in the mine, but he was not about to sacrifice a valuable watershed on the ranch to satisfy the mine’s hunger for timber. For the past four years since the discovery of silver, the mines of the Comstock had gone deeper and deeper in their search for more and richer deposits.  At first the depth had been limited, as the shoring gave way and accidents became common place, but since the introduction of the Deidesheimer square sets, it had been possible to mine with some safety, and now the restriction was the cost and availability of suitable timber.

Ben sat back and waited for the condemnation of his fellow board members.  Several of them muttered under their breath about his stubborn refusal to help, but none of them was prepared to make their opposition fully vocal.  Only Hal Kenney spoke.  The two had always had different priorities. Kenney’s God was money, and he made no secret of his wish to acquire it and maybe with it the Ponderosa.

Kenney pushed back his chair, “It will be if someone makes it worth your while,” he said sharply, “If the mine can’t go down below the three hundred foot level because of lack of timber, you’ll suffer with the rest of us.  Mines all over the Comstock are running low on shoring, and the Ponderosa and the Circle H are the only ranches who have good stands left. When one of you sells out, the other will have to go with it or go out of business.”

“Whether the Ponderosa goes out of business or not is a private affair, Kenney.  It has nothing to do with my shares in this mine, or my seat on this Board.”

Ben’s temper was rising, but he tried to keep his voice controlled.  Kenney always

riled him and made him say things he wished he’d kept to himself.  He watched Kenney’s departure with some relief, but he couldn’t give his attention to the rest of the meeting.  He knew his adversary wouldn’t rest until he had control of all of the timber on the Comstock, not just for the Eldorado, but for his own company which supplied the square sets to many of the mines and cord wood to keep the fires burning in the stamp mills.  Kenney’s business was timber and mining.  He had shares in several of the major mines, and he had logged every area that he owned until only small saplings remained.

He had also acquired several small tracts of land from homesteaders and ranchers, and Ben was sure that not all these acquisitions had been made legally.  Kenney had a partner, a one-time rancher called Frank Clifford, and as far as Ben could see, his only qualification for the business was his pre-disposition to violence and his fast gun.

Ben left the Crystal saloon in a pensive mood.  He decided to ride by the Circle H

and talk the problem over with his neighbours, the Hammonds.  Tom Hammond and his brother Chad had moved here not long after Ben, and they had been friends for all those years.  Chad had never married, and Tom’s wife had died in childbirth about fifteen years ago.  The two lived a bachelor existence in a rough and ready log cabin on the edge of their property, which extended from the far north east corner of the Ponderosa up on to the slopes of Mount Rose.  Their holdings were smaller than his, but they were still substantial, and the Circle H was second only to the Ponderosa in timber.  The Devlin and Marquette ranches, his other neighbours, were much smaller.  They ran cattle and had no real timber interests.

Tom Hammond was repairing the barn when Ben rode up.  He put up his tools and wandered over to the house as Ben tied Buck to the rail.

“Howdy, Ben!” Tom grinned.  “What brings you over this way?  Not enough work on the Ponderosa now those sons of yours can do your chores for you?”

“Plenty of work, Tom, not enough time to do it.  Adam and Hoss are down on the

south boundary surveying the winter damage to the fences so we can repair them before we move the cattle down. Joe and I have been handling the chores, but he’s back in school day after tomorrow,” Ben replied.  He leaned on the corral fence and surveyed the horses milling around.  “Nice bunch you’ve got here.”

“Yeah, I was going to ask if Adam would come over and give us hand breaking them. I suppose if you’re that busy, he won’t be able to spare the time.”

Ben shook his head a little sadly.  “Sorry Tom, I’d rather you didn’t mention it.  We have a lot of work to do, and I know he’d rather be breaking horses for you than mending fences for me.”

Tom smiled. “Don’t worry Ben.  Far be it for me to come between a man and his

employees – let alone a father and son.  I won’t say a word.  I guess I can still do the job even if these bones are getting old.”

Ben laughed. “You’re about the same age as me, Tom, so don’t plead that one.  Though, I must admit, I tend to let Adam break our horses.  It takes me longer to recover from a few spills than it used to.”

“Well, enough of my troubles; what brings you over here?” Tom asked, suddenly

serious.

“Hal Kenney,” Ben said bluntly.  “He’s out to buy up that tract of land between your boundary and Franktown creek, and I don’t have enough ready cash to stop him…”

Tom nodded thoughtfully. “That’s prime timber alright.”

Ben’s temper started to rise again. “Yeah, it is, but if it’s cut, the runoff from Slide Mountain will wash everything down to the lake.  The land will be useless for years to come.”

Tom raised his hands as if in surrender. “You don’t have to sell me on the idea Ben.  I agree with you, but I can’t afford to buy it, and if Kenney wants it, he’ll make a pretty determined effort to get it, by fair means or foul.   He’s bin after us to sell the timber we’ve got on Mount Rose and threaten to get it whether we want him to or not.  That henchman of his, Clifford, was with him.  Watch him, Ben.  He’s dangerous.”

Ben nodded. “We’ll be fine as long as we stick together.  He won’t do anything with two big ranches opposing him.  Thanks for the support.”   He swung back into the saddle and turned Buck towards home.

“Don’t mention it, Ben.  We’ve been friends too long to let someone like Kenney get the better of us.”  Tom raised a hand in farewell, and as Ben rode away, he saw him go back into the corral to take on an obnoxious looking black stallion.

 

While Ben was riding in from the north east, his youngest son was racing his horse across the valley in an effort to arrive home first.  He should have been home an hour ago, but he had lingered with his best friend Mitch, and as usual, they had lost track of time.  He managed to arrive first and made sure that Cochise was taken care of, but he had only just begun his chores by the time his father rode into the yard.  Usually Joe could rely on Hoss covering for him, but with his brothers away, there was no one left to do the work.

Ben glanced around the yard and barn as he stabled Buck.  It didn’t take much of a

look to see that the evening chores had hardly been started.  He sighed and went out to where Joe was gathering the wood for Hop Sing.

“How long have you been back?” he asked, standing in front of his son with his

hands on his hips and a frown drawing his brows together.

“I”ll get the chores done before supper, Pa.”  Joe tried to avoid a straight answer.

Ben nodded. “You will or you don’t eat.”  He sighed.  “Isn’t it strange that your chores are always finished when Hoss is here but never when he is away.  If I thought about it, I might come to the conclusion that you let your brother cover up for your laziness, and I might have to do something about it.”

Joe kept his eyes on the wood pile and refrained from answering, knowing that

anything he said would only get him into deeper water.

Ben grunted and started to walk toward the barn. “You can leave chopping more

wood for Hop Sing; he has enough for tonight.”

Joe breathed a sigh of relief; without that chore he would get finished easily before

Hop Sing called him for supper.  His father’s next words dispelled the feeling of well-being.

“You can do it tomorrow before church instead, and don’t make plans for the

Afternoon.  I want us all to go up to the Lake.”

Joe watched his father go into the barn and swore softly, careful not to let his father overhear.  He might have known Pa would not let it go so easily.   Tomorrow was Sunday, and he was usually free to do as he pleased once church was over.  He and Mitch had planned to take two of the girls from town on a picnic.  He wondered if he could get Pa to change his mind; after all, it was the last day of the vacation, but he knew it wasn’t likely.  If not, Mitch would take Sarah, and Mary would have to go without him.  Maybe one of the other boys would go instead.  Mary was currently his girl, but she wouldn’t be pleased if he failed to turn up.  He shrugged. It couldn’t be helped.  He’d win her back,

somehow.  He was about to join his father in the barn when his two brothers rode up.

“What kept you?”  Joe asked with a grin. “The fences fight back?”

Adam dismounted and grunted.  Hoss was a little more vocal. He punched his younger brother lightly on the arm. “Very funny.”

Ben came out of the barn, and he surveyed his oldest son’s downcast expression.

“Something wrong?”

Adam shook his head. “Not exactly.  The fences are worse than we thought.  We need a team of men and several loads of timber.  We’ll go back Monday.  Oh, and someone has been around that stand of timber near Kings Canyon, you know, the fir we’ve been holding back on.  There were a couple of camp fires.”

Ben frowned, “Might just be someone passing through.”

Adam nodded, “Could be, but why have two camps close together.”  He shrugged, “Course it could have been two different groups.”  He led Sport into the barn and began unsaddling.  “We’ll keep an eye open.”

“All we can do.  Supper’s almost ready.”  Ben replied as he turned and headed for the house.

“I could do with some of Hop Sing’s cooking and a soft bed tonight.”  Hoss moved to take Chub into the barn.  “Hey, give us a hand, little brother.  You ain’t doin’ nuthin’.”

Joe snorted. “I’ve bin doin’ your chores as well as mine.”

“Yes, well that’s a matter of opinion, young man.”  His father glared at him. Joe decided that helping Hoss was preferable to listening to his father list his shortcomings yet again.  He followed Hoss into the barn and watched him work.

“Pa mad at you ag’in?”  Hoss asked, looking over his shoulder to make sure his father had gone into the house.

Joe grinned. “No more’n usual.  I got held up at the Devlins.  Mrs. Devlin had just

baked an apple pie, and it had to be sampled.”

“Well, I can understand that,” Hoss replied, thinking of the delicious pastries Mary Devlin could make.

Joe glanced sideways at his brother. “Well…if you understand, how about helping me get my chores done so I don’t miss supper?”

Hoss frowned but looked like he might agree until Adam joined them.

“You do your own chores, Joe,” he said sharply.

Joe immediately rounded on him.  “What’s it to you, big brother.  Hoss offered.”

Hoss held up his hand to protest that he hadn’t offered, but Joe ignored him.

“Help if you want,” Adam said, shaking his head. “But he gets away with doing nothing as it is.”

Hoss was torn between wanting to help Joe and his irritation being conned again,.  “I don’t see why we can’t help each other; Joe’s bin helping us with our horses.”

Adam sneered at him and raised his eyebrows.  “He stood next to you while you did it. Apart from holding the bridle, I didn’t notice much help.”

Hoss was tired from his day’s work and tired of listening to Adam giving orders, and the attitude he was adopting now infuriated him. “Ok, Joe I’ll give you a hand,” he said, while glaring at Adam.

Joe passed Adam and gave him a smug smile.

Adam shrugged and headed over to the house.  If Hoss wanted to add to his day’s

work that was up to him; he wanted a cup of coffee and a comfortable chair.

 

When Hoss and Joe finished work and went into the house, Adam was seated in his chair reading the newspaper that Ben had brought from town.  He was frowning in concentration and didn’t look up.  Joe had a bad habit of reading over other people’s shoulders, and he did it now, stopping his brother from turning the page until he had read an article.

“Joe, quit it.  You can read the paper properly when I’ve finished with it,” Adam

complained.

Joe released the paper and wandered over to the sofa. “I only wanted to read that bit. When I was over at the Devlins, Caleb was talking about the Yankee troops moving down the Mississippi.  I wanted to see if the paper mentioned it.”

Adam looked at his younger brother suspiciously.  It wasn’t often that Joe took an

interest in current affairs.  “It looks like it’s shaping up for some sort of major confrontation. Sherman and Grant both have armies moving into the area around Jackson. Pemberton and Johnston have moved Confederate troops into the same area,” he explained, hoping to interest his brother in something more important than fishing, hunting and girls.

Hoss moved over from the kitchen where he had been trying to hurry supper. “You think there’ll be another battle soon?  It’s bin kinda quiet for a while.”  The whole question mystified Hoss.  He had taken an interest in the question of slavery, but now that Lincoln had freed the slaves, he found it difficult to understand the politics that kept north and south at each others throats.

Adam nodded. “There’s been nothing major since the Tennessee campaign.”   He was still engrossed in the newspaper and his conversation and didn’t hear his father’s footsteps on the stairs.

“Do we have to discuss the war at every mealtime?”  Ben asked irritably.  “It’s not likely to affect us here.”

Adam sighed.  He was getting used to his father burying his head in the sand where the war was concerned.  He had toyed with the idea of joining the army, but although he felt strongly about the issues, he wasn’t sure he was cut out to be a soldier taking orders.  He also had a sense of duty to the ranch and his family.  He did wonder if these were excuses rather than reasons, but he tried to push that thought to the back of his mind.

“It could affect us and soon.  Both sides need money to finance the war, and the Comstock has plenty of it in silver bullion right out of the earth.  Sooner or later one side or the other is gonna make a play for it.”

“Well until they do, let’s keep our minds on running this ranch.”  Ben snapped.

They all moved to the table and for the duration of the meal no more was said on the subject.  Ben and Adam discussed the state of the fences; Hoss ate in silence, giving his full attention to his food, and Joe tried to think of ways to persuade his father to change his mind about the wood chopping chore.

They had almost finished eating when there was a loud knock at the door.  Hoss and Adam immediately looked to Joe, who kept his head down in an effort to avoid being forced to answer the knock.

After the third knock, Ben sighed.  “Joseph, would you please see who is at the door?”

Joe pushed back his chair and rose to his feet.  He threw his napkin on the table in disgust, and once he had moved away a little and he thought his father wouldn’t hear, he mumbled under his breath about the unfairness of being the youngest.  He opened the door and admitted the ranch logging foreman.

“Evening, Jake.  You want some coffee?”  Ben asked.

“No, thanks,” Jake said quietly, his face a picture of misery. “I got some bad news.”

Ben got to his feet and moved toward his foreman.  “What is it, Jake?”

Jake took a deep breath. “Tom Hammond.  He’s bin killed.”

All four Cartwrights gasped in astonishment, but as well as puzzlement, Ben’s face showed disbelief.  “I spoke to him this afternoon.”

“How’d it happen?”  Adam asked.

Jake tipped his head on one side and sighed.  He was not looking forward to telling his boss how the accident had happened; he was only too well aware of what time of year it was.   “He was tryin’ to break one o” them horses, and it threw him, broke his neck.  Black stallion, so Charlie said.  He come by their place tonight, said Chad’s pretty broken up about it.”

For a moment Ben’s face went ashen, then he seemed to take a deep breath and

recover his composure. “Then it was an accident?”  he asked slowly.

Now it was Jake’s turn to be puzzled. “Sure it was; what else would it be?”

Ben shook his head.  “Nothing, Jake.  I was just stunned at the news.  Saddle Buck for me would you, Adam.  I’ll ride over and see if I can be of any help.  Chad might need someone to talk to tonight.”

Adam followed Jake from the room, and Ben began to gather his coat, hat and

gun belt.  He turned to his younger sons.  “I might not be back tonight. I’ll see you in church in the morning.”  He fixed Joe with a stern stare. “You mind your brother.  I don’t want you doing anything stupid while I’m away.”

Joe nodded.  He resented being treated like a baby, but he knew this was not the time to make a fuss about it.  Pa had known the Hammonds for nearly twenty years; this had to be hard on him, but he had never seen his father so shaken.

Hoss put an arm around Joe’s shoulders. “You tell Mr. Hammond how sorry we are, Pa.”

Ben nodded and went out into the yard.  He didn’t know what he was going to do to help his friend, but he knew he had to be there.

A few minutes later Adam came back into the living room.  He shivered and moved over to the fire.  Joe watched him for a few minutes then voiced what he had been thinking.

“I know Pa and Mr. Hammond were good friends, but he seemed awful upset.”  Adam glanced at Hoss to see if he had realised the reason for their father’s shock.  It

appeared not.

“Joe,” he said very softly, “I think it was the way he died and …” He looked at Hoss again and saw that his brother had now remembered too.  He put an arm around his little brother. “…well, tomorrow it will be ten years since your mother died.”

For a moment, Joe tried to pretend that he was unaffected by this announcement, but then he shrugged off his brother’s arm and raced up the stairs to his room.

“Think we oughta go after him?”  Hoss asked his face creased in a worried frown.

Adam shook his head. “No, he won’t thank us for making a fuss.  He wants us to think he’s all grown up.  If he doesn’t come back down, I’ll look in on him in a while.”

“You think Pa will come back tonight?”

“I doubt it.  In a way it’s probably better that he doesn’t.  I was trying to think of a way to get him away from the ranch tomorrow.  You know how he usually sits on the porch and stares at the yard, then goes up to the Lake.”

Adam poured himself more coffee and waved the pot in his brother’s direction.  Hoss shook his head, and Adam replaced the coffee pot and wandered over to the fireplace again.

“I wonder what Pa meant about it being an accident.  It was as if he was expecting

something to happen to Tom Hammond,”  he mused.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Adam hammered on Joe’s door as he passed and yelled for his brother to get up.  He knew it would probably take another couple of calls before he put in an appearance, but he lived in hope.  He had looked in on Joe last night but found his brother uncommunicative; after a few attempts to get him to talk he had given up and gone to bed.  Today was not going to be an easy day.  Not only was it a sad anniversary, but now the death of Tom Hammond would overshadow the day, too.  He glanced into his father’s room, but, as he expected, Pa had not returned from the Hammonds.

He went about his chores automatically, his mind elsewhere.  There were three days of the year when Pa retreated into his shell and mourned: this one, the day in late autumn when Hoss’ mother had died and one in November when he remembered Adam’s mother. Adam could never decide which was the hardest on him personally.  He hadn’t known his own mother, but he could never remember really celebrating his birthday the way Hoss and Joe did because it was also the anniversary of her death.   He had loved Inger dearly, and he had watched her die; the nightmare still haunted him more than twenty years on.  Maybe today was the hardest because he had loved Marie, but he had never really been able to bring himself to tell her.  He had fought against her at the start, then his feelings had become so mixed up that he had been unable to tell her that he loved her because he didn’t understand that love.

His thoughts turned to his youngest brother.  He had promised Marie that he would look after him; well, that had been a near impossible task, but he had reached fifteen without any major disasters. Adam had a feeling that the worst was yet to come.  Thinking of his brother reminded him that Joe had still not put in an appearance.  His temper began to rise then he damped it down.  This was a hard day for Joe too.

“Hoss,” he called across the yard to his brother. “Give Joe another shout or we won’t be in time for church.”

Hoss nodded and went into the house.  He came out about five minutes later with a half-dressed Joe in tow.

“Didn’t Pa say you had some wood to chop as well as your usual chores?”  Adam

asked.

Joe glared at him.  “Oh, hell, Adam, that can wait.”

“It can’t wait, and you watch your language,” his older brother replied mildly. “You’d better get moving if you’re going to be ready for church.”

Joe made a face at his retreating back and looked appealingly toward Hoss.

“Oh no, I’m not doing your chores this morning.  I helped last night and that was the last time,” Hoss said firmly.

Joe got through his chores by doing the least he could get away with, but he still had the wood to chop when his brothers went in to breakfast.  He picked up the axe, and as he swung it, he thought about the unfairness of life.  Today was going to be an awful day.  First there was church, which meant sitting still through some interminably long sermon without falling asleep.  Hoss seemed to snooze most weeks and get away with it; he’d done it just once and had earned himself an afternoon of learning bible verses.  Then this afternoon, when he had hoped to be with Mary on a picnic, he would have to accompany his father and brothers to the lake.  Not that he minded going there, he loved the lake, but today was difficult enough without having to visit his mother’s grave.

Joe’s bad temper increased with each swing of the axe.  Unaware of the morning sunshine, the cool breeze or the heaped wood before him, his mind boiled with the unfairness of life.  Suddenly the carelessly aimed axe glanced off the edge of a huge log.  It sliced a splinter from the edge that whirled up and sliced into his cheek. Joe dropped the axe and yelled as blood began to pour from the wound.  He clutched at his cheek and rushed into the house.

Adam and Hoss were at the table and glanced up as he came in like a whirlwind. “Joe watch what you’re doing!”  Adam yelled.  Then he saw the blood dripping through his brother’s fingers.  “What happened?” he demanded, jumping to his feet and grabbing his brother.  He pried Joe’s fingers away from his cheek and yelled to Hop Sing for some water and a cloth.

Now that he had everyone’s attention, Joe was embarrassed.  “Don’t fuss, it’s only a splinter,” he insisted, pushing Adam away.

Hop Sing wasn’t so easily put off.  He cleaned up the wound and then applied some witch hazel.  It made Joe yell even louder than he had outside.

“Hey, that stings!”

Adam inspected the cut, then pronounced, “It’s not too bad, only a small cut.”

“Huh what would you know.”  Joe shrugged off his hand.  “It hurts like hell.”

“Joe, I’ve told you once today to watch your language.”  Adam’s bad mood was

surfacing again.

Hoss, ever the peacemaker, intervened.  “Come on, Adam, let’s get ready for church. Hop Sing can take care of Joe.”

He pulled at his older brother’s arm, and Adam reluctantly followed him upstairs.  At the half-landing he paused and looked back to his younger brother.  “Don’t take too long.  You need to get changed.”

Joe grumbled under his breath that he hadn’t even eaten yet, but Adam had already disappeared around the bend in the stairs.  “Huh, great start to the day,”  he muttered putting one hand up to stop Hop Sing’s ministrations and grabbing a piece of bread and some bacon with the other.

They arrived at the church as the last of the congregation were going in, but there

was no sign of Ben.  For this, at least, Joe was grateful; maybe he could sleep unhindered.  He signalled to Mitch that he needed to talk after the service, and they were both rewarded with a stern glare from Mitch’s father.  As they filed into the pew, Adam caught Joe’s arm and made Hoss go first so that his little brother was seated between them.  Joe sighed.  Obviously, Adam had guessed his intentions.  The sermon was long and boring, and every time Joe fidgeted Adam gave him an angry stare.  He had hoped that his father’s absence might leave the way open for him to go on the picnic after all, but one look at his older brother’s face told him he was wishing for the moon.

Finally, prayers were said for Tom Hammond and support was sought for his brother, and then the congregation filed out.  As usual Joe took advantage of the fact that his older brother stopped to shake the pastor’s hand just as his Pa always did, and he slipped out to meet Mitch.

“I can’t come this afternoon, Mitch.  I gotta go up to the lake with my brothers.  Mary’s not here, so can you tell her I’m sorry and I’ll make it up to her?”

Mitch shook his head. “I wish I could, but Pa’s mad at me, and I gotta stay at home and look after Amy and Micah.”  He indicated his twelve-year-old sister and five-year-old brother.

“What’s he cross with you for this time?”  Joe asked.

Mitch sighed. “Aw, nuthin’ much.  Me and Danny got to fighting last night, and Dan said I started it.”

“Did you?”  Joe grinned.  He knew how placid Mitch’s brother was.  Danny was a year younger than Hoss and had about the same temperament, it was difficult to imagine him starting a fight.

Mitch returned the grin. “Yeah, he was bein’ so blame reasonable.  It got on my

nerves.”

Joe laughed at his friend.  He knew just what he meant.  Hoss could do the same to him.  When he was in a bad mood and tried to pick a fight, Hoss would refuse to be drawn, and it made him even angrier.

“Well, it can’t be helped.  Let’s hope the girls understand,” Mitch  continued.

Joe slapped his friend on the back. “If they don’t, it don’t matter.  There are plenty more girls around.”

“Yeah, like who?”  Mitch sneered.

Joe gave his friend a sly look. “Oh, like Val Bonner, maybe?  You know you’re sweet on her.”

Joe’s mention of the daughter of the town’s drunk and one time cattle rustler made Mitch snorted. “Even if I was, and I ain’t saying I am, my Pa’d have my hide if I went around with a Bonner.”

“You’d better hope Sarah’s in a forgiving mood then,” Joe replied, still grinning. Mitch glanced up at Joe and for the first time noticed the cut on his cheek. “Hey, how’d

you do that?”

“What? Oh, that¼ it’s nuthin’, but it might do as an excuse for not seeing the girls, what d’you think?”

Mitch gave a derisory laugh. “No chance, even in one of her softer moments Mary

won’t believe that.  Try to find something better before school tomorrow.”   He saw his parents coming towards him and moved off to intercept them before he got into more trouble.  Joe watched his friend being reprimanded for running off and grinned; with six in the family Mr. Devlin had to be pretty strict.  Pa was, too, and he and Mitch often covered for each other or compared notes when they were in trouble.

 

Adam and Hoss had now moved away from the church, and Joe could see them

looking around for him.  He’d better get over there before Adam threw another tantrum about him not behaving himself.  They rode home in comparative silence, each thinking their own thoughts.  Ben was waiting for them on the porch, and as Adam had predicted, he was staring across the yard.  Adam wondered if his father relived the nightmare of witnessing Marie’s death in the same way that Inger’s death filled his own nightmares. It must be worse for Pa.  He had experienced that same pain three times.

Joe tried not to look at his father at all.  He could hardly remember that terrible day,  and he preferred it that way.  He didn’t mind going to his mother’s grave on any other day but this one.

The afternoon was the longest that Joe could remember.  He was sure it hadn’t been this bad in previous years.  Obviously, Tom Hammond’s death had intensified his father’s grief, and none of them dared to mention the similarities, although all of them had them upper most in their minds. He was relieved when it was over and he could retreat to his room, away from the gloom of the living room. He wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow, either, but at least this was his last session in school.  He and Mitch were old enough to leave in the summer, and by the fall he would be working with his brothers.  For the first time he would be able to go on the annual round-up and cattle drive.

He got up from the bed and went over to his bureau.  Opening the bottom drawer, he lifted up the clothes deliberately laid on top and let his fingers find the smooth walnut of the butt of the pistol he had hidden there.

It had cost him almost all of his savings, and he had gone all the way to Lakes’ Crossing to buy it so that his Pa wouldn’t know.  For a moment, he felt guilty.  Pa would have his hide if he found out.  He pushed the thought aside.  Pa wouldn’t search his room, and Hop Sing never tidied drawers.  If he was careful about when he used it, Pa would never know.  Anyhow, he justified his actions, Pa was teaching him how to use a pistol.  Surely, he would be allowed to have his own soon.  He lifted it from the drawer and held it in his hand. He twirled it around his finger and pretending to shoot at his reflection in the

mirror.  He needed a holster, but that was more difficult to get.  It had to be left-handed, which meant specially made, and he could think of no way of getting one without the saddler telling his father.

After a few more tricks with the gun, he carefully replaced it and covered it again,

making sure that no one opening the drawer quickly would see it.  He began to get undressed, throwing his shirt carelessly towards the chair.  It dropped in a heap on the floor, and he thought of leaving it there, but his Pa often called in before he went to bed, and he wasn’t in the mood for a lecture on tidiness.  He bent to pick it up, and as he straightened again he caught sight of his mother’s picture.  She seemed to be looking right at him, and he felt uncomfortably guilty.

He had hardly thought about her today; in fact, he had tried not to think about her.  He sat down on the edge of his bed and picked up the silver frame.  Images of his friends’ mothers swam in front of his eyes.  Mitch’s Ma, permanently baking or washing for her large family but always with a smile for him; Mary’s mother who treated him like some form of evil who would corrupt her daughter, he grinned at the thought.  Then all the others who either regarded him as cute and lovable or the devil incarnate.  It depended on what he had persuaded their sons and daughters to do that week.

What would his mother have been like now if she had lived?  His father had told him a lot about her but not the things he wanted to know.  He wondered how she would have reacted to the scrapes he got himself into.  Hoss sometimes mentioned things that he remembered, but then his brother had only been eleven when she died, and he wasn’t the sort of boy to have got into much trouble.  Only Adam had known her when he was Joe’s age, and for some reason Adam, although happy to talk about her in general terms, was always reluctant to discuss his own part in events.  In fact, thinking about it, Adam never talked much about anything he had got up to as a boy.  Joe’s fertile imagination began to invent reasons for his brother’s reticence and a determination to find out.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

The school bell had ceased its ringing several minutes ago, but two fifteen‑year‑old boys were still ambling down the road as if they had all the time in the world.  Joe Cartwright and Mitch Devlin had never been known to be on time for school, and they saw no reason to make the first day of the summer session an exception.

“You think the war will last much longer?”  Mitch was asking.

Joe shrugged.  “Adam thinks it will.  He talks about it all the time, when Pa’s not

Around, that is.  Pa gets real mad at him.”

“Yeah, Caleb says he’s going to enlist.  Pa called him a fool; said it wasn’t nuthin’ to do with us.” Mitch quickened his pace a little.  Unlike Joe, he preferred his troubles in small measures.  “Come on, Joe, or we’ll get kept after.”

Joe reluctantly followed his friend into the schoolhouse.  As usual on the first day of a new session, there were several new faces and a certain amount of confusion.  Virginia City had grown in the past four years, and the one-roomed school had grown with it until there were four classes.  Joe’s eyes sought out Mary and mouthed an apology over the heads of his schoolmates.  Mary turned up her nose and then turned her back on him.  He grinned.  She would give him a hard time at recess, but by tonight she would be eating out of his hand again, he was sure.  Joe and Mitch had moved this session from the group taught my Miss Jones to a new schoolmaster called Johnson.  Mr. Johnson was attempting to sort out his class, and while he was occupied, Joe surveyed him critically.  It was vitally important to know what sort of teacher he was dealing with.  He had liked his first teacher, Mr. Lawson, and he had learned how to handle Miss Jones.  The School Principal, Mr. Macdonald, you didn’t argue with unless you were very foolish.  Now, what would this one be like?  He had thinning, sandy hair and horn-rimmed spectacles.  He looked mild mannered and harmless, but you never could tell.

The Principal came into the room as Mr. Johnson was arranging his pupils into groups. The children instantly became silent, and all eyes focused on the front of the classroom.  Macdonald walked to the back of the room and surveyed the students’ chosen seating arrangements.  As he suspected, the troublemakers had congregated in the back rows.

“If I may offer a word of advice, Mr. Johnson,” he said quietly, “I would separate this group here, before you start; it saves a lot of time later in the day.”  He indicated a group of four boys that included Joe and Mitch.

Joe adopted an injured expression.  He hadn’t done anything yet!  He found himself moved toward the front of the class and placed in a seat next to one of the new pupils.  He grinned; it could have been worse, in fact, for Mitch it had been.  He was put in the front row next to Alice Gordon, the class know‑it‑all.  He saw his friend raise his eyebrows and heard him whisper, “Some people have all the luck.”

Across the aisle from Joe, a shy, dark-haired girl was looking at the new girl and thinking the same thing.  The aim of almost every girl in the class was to find themselves seated next to Joe Cartwright.

Joe glanced at his companion.  She was a little younger than him with dark blonde hair tied back in braids and mischievous hazel eyes that looked at him from beneath long sandy lashes.  He gave her one of his beaming smiles and was surprised when she grinned and scribbled a note to him on her pad.  Most girls blushed and acted coy when he smiled at them.  He twisted his head slightly to read the note:  “My name’s Annabelle.  My friends call me Annie.  What’s yours?” he read.  Joe took her pencil, and wrote his name beneath hers.

Throughout the morning, they wrote back and forth to each other, paying little or no attention to the lesson in progress.  Mr. Johnson taught from the front of the class and, unlike Miss Jones, never walked down the aisles.  Joe was confident that, as he had remained silent, his inattention had gone unnoticed.  Finally, Mr. Johnson called recess and there was a scramble for the door.  Before the first youngster could reach it, a voice was heard above the noise.

“Oh! Mr. Cartwright and Miss Kempster, if you would leave your pads on the desk, I’ll just check those notes you’ve been making so industriously,” Mr. Johnson called.

Joe groaned.  He should have known!  It was always the quiet ones that noticed everything.  He sent up a silent prayer, that whatever Johnson decided to do it didn’t involve being kept late.  Pa had warned him only this morning that he was to stay out of trouble this summer, and here he was in it up to his neck on the first day.

Once outside, Joe went to his usual spot on the low wall and waited for Mitch to join him.

“Okay, Romeo.  I hope she’s worth it, and I don’t just mean Johnson,” his friend grinned, indicating Mary who was glaring at him from across the yard.

Joe returned the smile. “She’ll get over it, and anyhow I don’t really care anymore if she don’t.  As for the rest, I’ll let you know when Johnson decides what he’s gonna do with us. I hope he doesn’t read it all.  My opinion of the teachers might not go down too well.”

Mitch shook his head in disbelief. “Don’t you ever think of the consequences?”

“Not too often, I guess.  Why don’t you ever get into trouble?”

Mitch glanced sideways at him and then raised his eyebrows at Alice who was

holding court with some of the girls.  “Sitting next to her, you’ve got to be kidding.  Miss calm, cool and collected, she never takes her eyes off the teacher.  You know I’d love to see her get in trouble just once.”

Joe’s brow wrinkled in concentration. “Well, maybe if you have to sit next to her for a while we can think of something.”

Mitch frowned and shook his head. “No, Joe.  I’m not letting you talk me into any trouble.  My Pa will have my hide if there is any repeat of last session.  I’d think you’d feel the same; your Pa wasn’t exactly delighted with you.  Or do you want a repeat of last summer?”

“Aw, Mitch, that was different.  I got mixed up with Travis and got led astray,” Joe said innocently.

“Exactly,” his friend replied with a grin, “and I’m not about to be led astray by you.”

“C’mon Mitch, it’s our last chance.  We’ll be leaving in the summer.  You can’t mean you’re gonna behave for three whole months.  The trick is not to get caught.”

Mitch slapped his friend on the back. “Joe, when I follow you I always get caught.”

The ringing of the bell interrupted their discussion and both jumped up from the wall to make their way back into the classroom.  Joe gave Annabelle a reassuring grin as they went through the door.  At least he would soon find out what Johnson was like as a disciplinarian.

The first thing he learned was that Mr. Johnson believed in making him sweat.  For the remainder of the day, lessons continued without reference to the notes which lay on the front of the schoolmaster’s desk in full view.  It was only after the other children had been dismissed that he and Annabelle learned of their fate.

“Our lesson this morning was Shakespeare. Since you two want to play at Romeo and Juliet and presumably think you can make a better job of writing than the original, maybe you would like to recite for the class tomorrow.”  He handed them both a copy of the play. “I’ve marked the passages you are to learn tonight.  I shall look forward to a flawless performance first thing in the morning.”  He held them both with a stern stare. “You may go Miss Kempster.  I have a further few words for your companion.”

Joe shifted uneasily from one foot to the other.  It was getting late and he would have to hurry to get home before he was missed.  Maybe Hoss would cover for him, although lately his older brother was getting less accommodating in this area.

Johnson held up Joe’s pad. “I suggest you think very carefully before you write anything along these lines again, young man.  Next time I will not be so lenient with you.  Is that understood?”

Joe nodded. “Yes, sir.”  He watched while the offending pages were torn up and his blank pad was returned to him.

“Alright, you may go.”

Joe gathered his books and left hurriedly, pleased that he had escaped so lightly and vowing to be more careful of Johnson in future.  Outside, he was surprised to find that Annabelle had waited for him.  Well, like Mitch had said, that made it worthwhile.

“Thanks for waiting, Annabelle.  I’m sorry I got you into that on your first day.

Someone should have warned you that I’m trouble.”  He gave her his most disarming smile.

She grinned back. “My mother says trouble’s my middle name, so I guess we make a good team… And my friends call me Annie, I did write it down for you.” she giggled.

Joe laughed. “Okay, Annie.  Let me walk you home,” he said, forgetting that he should have been heading home himself half an hour ago, and he had no idea how far from the school she lived.

Luckily for him, Annie’s father was an investment adviser for the bank, and her house was just two blocks from the schoolhouse.  He rode into the Ponderosa yard only a little over half an hour late to find Hoss fuming as he did his own chores and Joe’s.

“This is the last time, little brother, the very last time.  You either do your own work or you get what’s comin’ to you from Pa,” Hoss complained.

“I got held up.  I couldn’t help it,” Joe replied, leading Cochise into the barn.

Hoss followed him, not yet finished with his complaints.  “If you got kept after school ag’in Pa’s gonna be mad.”

Joe began to unsaddle Cochise and spoke over his shoulder to his brother. “I didn”t.  I met this new kid in school and decided I should be polite and welcoming.”

Hoss snorted. “What’s her name?”

Joe grinned. “Who said it was a girl?”

Hoss didn’t bother to reply to this question but launched into a catalog of Joe’s recent misdemeanours.  Joe held up his hands in surrender.

“Alright, alright, I get the message,” Joe yelled.

“You’d better,” said a voice from the doorway. “It’s about time you started pulling your weight around here.”

“Well, when I start getting’ paid what you do, maybe I might,” Joe snapped back at his oldest brother.  He pushed past him and strode across to the wood pile.  It was the only one of his chores Hoss had not started, and it gave him the chance to work off some of the anger he felt at his older brothers.  It wasn’t fair.  Most kids had two parents, he had three.

 

It took Joe most of the evening to do his normal homework and to learn the lines Mr. Johnson had marked.  If it had been Miss Jones he would have skimmed through it and made a passable stab at it in class.  Johnson might not be so lenient, and he wanted to stay out of trouble for a while at least.  Pa had gotten pretty angry with him last session.  He wanted to go on the annual cattle drive this year, and he didn’t want to do anything that might jeopardise that.

He sat at the dining room table, and in the background, he could hear his father and brothers discussing ranch business.  He’d rather be part of that than still in school.  He

consoled himself with the knowledge that it was only for another three months and turned his attention back to Shakespeare.

The knock at the door startled him, and he waited for the looks which said he was

expected to answer it, but to his surprise, Hoss got to his feet before Pa could say anything.

From his seat he heard his brother greet Matt Lawrence, a neighbor of theirs.  It would be more ranch talk, he guessed, so he went back to his work.

“Come on in, Matt.”  Ben got up to meet him and shake his hand. “What brings you over here this late in the day?”  He handed a cup of coffee to his guest and indicated the sofa.

“Evenin’, Ben.”  He nodded to Adam but ignored Joe.  He seemed ill at ease as he sipped his coffee.  “I dunno how to put this Ben.  We bin neighbors a good many years…” He looked from Ben to Adam and back again. “I guess I’ll just come out with it.  I’m sorry, but I sold my place today.”

Ben raised his eyebrows. “Well, I knew you were thinking of going to San Francisco, but I wasn’t expecting it yet.  I don’t see why you should be sorry, Matt.  It’s your property; you don’t have to tell me what you’re doing.”  He smiled and leaned back in his chair.

Matt Lawrence shook his head. “You don’t understand Ben.  I sold to Hal Kenney…” He looked down at his boots, afraid to look his friend in the eye. “He offered a good price.”

Adam gave a low whistle. “I bet he did.”

Ben turned and glared at his oldest son. “I wish I could have offered you a deal Matt, but the Ponderosa is a bit stretched at the moment.  You have every right to take the best you can get.  You worked hard for that place.”  Ben refused to make his neighbour feel guilty, but his instinctive reaction was one of shock.  He rapidly considered the consequences of Hal Kenney owning that piece of land.  “What about our agreement on water from the stream up there, Matt?” He spoke slowly, knowing in his heart that Kenney would never have taken on that agreement as part of the deal.

Matt Lawrence cleared his throat self‑consciously. “I’m sorry, Ben.  He wouldn’t buy with that in the deed.  I had no choice.”

Ben nodded. “That’s a bad blow to us Matt.”  He looked at Adam, who was shaking his head in disbelief.

“It’s all legal.  I don’t have to keep that agreement; it was between us because we were friends, Ben.”  Matt said quickly.

“Yes, Matt, we were,” Ben said softly, his anger beginning to surface despite his best efforts.  “I wish you every success in San Francisco.  I hope the money brings you whatever it is you’re looking for.”

Matt Lawrence looked embarrassed. “I’d better be going.  I’m sorry to do this to you, Ben.”

Ben got to his feet and walked with him to the door. “Yes, I’m sorry too, Matt.”

 

Adam waited until the door closed behind the visitor before he exploded.  “How can you take it so calmly?” he almost shouted at his father.

“What’s done is done.  It’ll do no good making Matt feel anymore guilty than he does already,” his father said quietly.

“You realise what Kenney can do now?”  Adam was still shouting.

Ben glared at him. “Calm down and lower your voice when you speak to me,” he

said angrily.

Adam shook his head and sat down again. “I’m sorry, Pa, but all the work we’ve put in on those meadows will be wasted if we can’t get water to the cattle there.  And when he logs up there we’ll have a mud slide over some of our best grazing land.”

“Kenney may not stop the water,” Hoss offered.

Adam swung around on his brother. “Yeah, and the sun might not rise tomorrow, but I wouldn’t put money on it.  Hoss, use your head!  Why d’you think he bought the place?  He wants to surround us with his land then start accidentally logging the Ponderosa,” he said sarcastically.

Hoss flushed and sat back in a sulk.

“And you keep a civil tongue in your head, young man.  That’s no way to speak to your brother.”

Ben spoke quietly but firmly, and Adam lowered his gaze to the floor.  At the dining room table Joe had been listening and now had a smug smile on his face.  It gave him a guilty pleasure to see Adam on the receiving end of Pa’s anger for a change.  Ben waited until Adam was feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, before he continued.

“He’ll either cut off the water straight away or he’ll try to negotiate for that tract of timber he’s after.  Either way we are going to have to move the herd soon.”

Hoss gave his father a puzzled look. “I don’t understand, Pa.  He must have paid far more than the timber’s worth already.”  He avoided looking at Adam for fear of the scorn he would see in his brother’s face.  Adam always understood and never missed an opportunity to show his superior knowledge.

Ben poured himself more coffee before answering. “He has, probably ten times as

much as it’s worth on the open market, but he’s playing for higher stakes.  He has contracts with all the big mines, and he owns most of the available timber except the Circle H and the Ponderosa.  Unfortunately for him, his contracts require more trees than he has on his own land.  If he doesn’t acquire either the Circle H or the Ponderosa, or at least a good portion of the timber rights, then he goes out of business, and he will be sued for every cent he has and then some.  Time is getting short for Mr. Kenney.  If he hasn’t done a deal by the fall… well, the least we can expect is timber rustlers.”

Hoss nodded, beginning to understand why his father had been so worried after his meeting in town.  “You mean he’ll do anything to make us sell.  Is that why he’s been buying up the small homesteads?”

Ben nodded.  “Yes, he’s surrounding us and the Circle H with land he owns.  Soon he’ll own every bit of land between the Ponderosa and Virginia City.”

Adam lifted his head but avoided his father’s eyes. “Chad Hammond won’t sell either.” He said quietly.

“No, I don’t think he will, but he’s not thinking straight at the moment.  I’d feel happier if I knew it for sure,” Ben replied.  “We’re both short of ready cash at the moment.  If Kenney pushes, he might be tempted.  Tom’s death has hit him hard.”

“We’ll be fine once we sell the cattle in the fall,” Adam said confidently.

“Yes, we will, but we have to survive what ever Kenney throws at us until then,” his father pointed out.  “For the moment, we wait.  We keep a careful watch on the timber operation and on the herd and we wait.  The next move is Kenney’s, and unless I miss my guess, it won’t be long coming.”

 

 

 

Chapter  4

 

 

Three days later the Cartwrights were seated at supper.  As usual Ben was leading the conversation around to what everyone had been doing and what the plans were for the next day’s work.  He had been into Virginia City to execute some banking business, and he announced his news first.

“I spoke with Chad’s foreman today in town.  Chad’s had a visit from Kenney with another offer for his timber.  He turned him down, of course, but it’s worrying that Kenney didn’t even wait for a week to pass before he tried again.”  He waited for a response, but Adam merely nodded. “I think we should start posting guards around the piece of land nearest his property.  If he’s going to move it will be there.  What do you think?” he asked, trying to provoke a response from his eldest son.

Again Adam nodded, “If you think that’s best, Pa.  I’ll get to it tomorrow.”  Adam’s thoughts were elsewhere, and his father’s concerns barely registered.

Ben shook his head in amusement; no doubt Adam had a new book or a new girlfriend.  He certainly wasn’t buying into conversation tonight.  “Did you get the final tally on the herd, Hoss?”  He turned to his middle son and was pleased to see a smile and an alert expression from at least one of his sons.

“Not quite, Pa.  Jake thinks there are maybe another twenty or so in the canyon over Carson City way, so we thought we’d take a look tomorrow and finish off then with a final count.”  Hoss knew he had put in a hard day’s work, and he had nothing to hide, unlike his brothers.  He almost chuckled, Adam was still sore because Lucy Winston had turned him down for the dance, and he was plotting his pretty speeches to make her change her mind.  Joe was up to something, of that Hoss was sure, but then that was nothing new.

What about you Joe?  What’s that new teacher like?”

Joe jumped slightly and tried desperately not to look guilty. “Oh, he’s okay, Pa.”

Ben had poured himself coffee, and he looked at Joe over the rim of his cup “Just okay.  It’s not like you to let a new teacher get away with that sort of comment.  What have you been doing this week?”

Joe cleared his throat.  Now, there was a question.  The truth! Well, he’d been kept after school; made to learn pages of Shakespeare to recite in class; kept in at recess because he was talking to Annie and got a D for his history because he hadn’t heard more than two words in class.  Oh, and he’d played truant today, and it was less than a week into the summer session.  Maybe something less than the whole truth was called for here.

“We’re studying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and the 1828 Presidential election,which is boring,” Joe sighed.

Adam glanced up and grinned, “Which is?” he queried. “Shakespeare or Jackson?”

“Both,” snapped his brother.

Ben smiled. “I find it a little unnerving that my son is studying history that I lived

through.  I was at sea by the time Jackson was elected.”

“You didn’t vote then?”  Adam grinned, pushing thoughts of Lucy from his head for now.

Ben wagged a finger at him,  but he was smiling.  “Don’t push your luck, young man.  I wasn’t old enough to vote as you well know.”  He got up and, taking his coffee, moved over to the fireplace.  “If you need any help, Joe, let me know.  I might remember some of the important points of the campaign.”  He gave Adam a smile.  “And I’m sure your older brother can recite the important speeches from Romeo and Juliet for you.  I seem to remember he had to learn quite a large portion of it for some misdemeanour or other.  Now, what was that?”

Adam raised his hand in protest. “Okay, I give in.  I apologise.”

Joe grinned at his brother’s discomfort.  “Come on, Pa, what did he do?” Joe begged. Hoss got up to join his father at the fireplace, making sure he was well away from

Adam’s chair before he spoke.

“Had something to do with a young lady called Caroline, as I recall.  Ain’t that right, Pa?”   Ben caught Hoss’ eye, and they both laughed.

“Yes, I think that was her name.  She was a very pretty girl; caused your brother a lot of trouble when he was your age, if I remember rightly.  Now what happened to her?”  Ben could hardly keep himself from laughing again.

Adam made a face at them. “She married Matthew Henderson and moved to Arizona, as you well know.  Now, can I be let off the hook?”

Ben nodded. He could see that Adam, although taking it in good part at the moment, would become irritated if they persisted.   “Sorry, Joe.  I think we’ve teased him enough for one night.”

Joe would have tried again, but a knock at the door interrupted him. He looked at his brothers then reluctantly went to answer it.  He didn’t mind too much; he was relieved that there were no more questions about school.  He opened the door to admit Jake.

“Evening, Mr. Cartwright.  Sorry to disturb you, but Chad Hammond came by the

loggin’ camp tonight and asked me to let you know what happened today,”  Jake said slowly.

Ben got to his feet alarmed.  “What’s wrong now?”

“Clifford’s men was seen on the Circle H.  Mr. Hammond thinks they were checking out the area.  He said they had surveying equipment with ‘em.”

Ben looked puzzled.  “Surveying for what?”

Jake shrugged.   “Mr. Hammond weren’t sure; he thought maybe to drive a loggin’ road through.  Some of his fences wuz damaged, too.”

“Alright, Jake, we’ll post guards on that strip of land Kenney wants.  Might as well be ready for him if he decides to try us instead of Chad.”

 

The next day, Adam rode out with Hoss to post extra guards and didn’t arrive back until almost supper time.  Joe had worked through his chores as quickly as he could, and by the time Hoss and Adam returned he was back in the house doing homework.  Ben was keeping an eye on him while reading the latest paper he had picked up in town the day before.  Hoss came in first and finding that there was no sign of supper, went in search of Hop Sing.

“Your injunction didn’t achieve much,” Adam complained to his father as he came in from the yard and warmed his hands before the fire.  Despite the warmth of the days the evenings were cold.

Joe glanced at his brother from his seat at the dining room table, and Hoss stopped hanging around the kitchen door and joined his father and brother in the living room.

Ben looked up from his newspaper.  “Trouble?”  he asked.

Adam nodded. “Clifford and a couple of his men.  I found them alongside the creek where it joins the main stream to the Truckee.  They said they were riding through, but I reckon they were making plans to start logging up there.”

Ben rubbed his chin. “That’s not our land, it’s Circle H.”

“I thought the injunction covered both,” Adam replied.

“It does, but to get them thrown in jail Chad would have to bring the charges.  You and I’ll ride over tomorrow and get him to talk to Roy.  If we can stop Kenney before he gets started, maybe we can avoid a war.”  He picked up his newspaper again, and Adam saw the headline.  “Hooker defeated at Chancellorsville.”

“Talking of war,” Adam said tentatively.  “Caleb’s joined up.  Danny told me he left yesterday for Pennsylvania.”

Ben turned the paper over. “The boy’s more foolish than I thought; the army’s in retreat and he joins it.  I’m surprised George let him go.”

Adam pursed his lips and frowned.  “He’s twenty‑six, Pa, a year younger than me.  Don’t you think he’s old enough to make up his own mind?”

The inference was obvious, and Ben threw his oldest son an angry glare. “Maturity has nothing to do with age and a whole lot to do with good sense.  Thirty thousand men died at Chancellorsville, for what?”

“A principle maybe,” said Adam softly.

Ben glanced up quickly and met his son’s frank gaze. “Huh!” he grunted. He tried to hold Adam’s stare but eventually looked away.  Was Adam considering going too?  He couldn’t bear the thought. “It’s time to eat, and I don’t want to spend the whole evening discussing the war.”  He moved to the table and frowned at Joe. “Put your books away. You ought to have finished your homework by now, unless you’ve been given extra work again,” he said, suspiciously eyeing his youngest son.

Joe shook his head.  “I’ve finished, Pa, honest.”

Hop Sing padded in and began placing dishes on the table, and all four moved to their chairs.  The Chinese cook did not appreciate his meals being kept waiting.

 

The next day Chad Hammond met them in the yard and invited them in for coffee.  He was slightly younger than Ben, and the two had been friends for years.  Adam could remember visiting back and forth when Marie was alive.  She had been very fond of Chad because he was one of the few people who had accepted her from the outset with no preconceived notions of what she was or had been.

“I bin expecting you, Ben.  Clifford’s bin giving me trouble, and but I guess you know that,” Chad said, as he poured coffee into brown pottery mugs.  He handed one to each of them and sipped his own.  “I can’t prove nothing, but I’m sure he’s been wrecking fences and some of my cattle have bin run off.  Nuthin’ stolen you understand; it’s all carefully planned to cause me trouble but not break the law.”

Adam sipped the coffee and tried not to make a face. Tom had been the cook and

Chad obviously hadn’t mastered the art.  It was thick and black with a distinctly bitter taste.

“He’s been prowling around our boundary fence for several days now.  He’s gonna make a move sooner or later, and I plan to be there when he does,” Adam said, his voice beginning to show anger.

Ben glared at him. “You’ll keep your temper.  I want no fight with Clifford.  We’ll let the law handle it.”

Adam raised his eyes to the roof and sighed. “We let him start logging before we do anything, is that it?”

“No, that’s not it, but we don’t start anything unless he does.  Roy will do what’s necessary if we swear out a complaint.”

Chad nodded.  “Adam, your Pa’s right.  Kenney has to abide by the law.”

Adam snorted.  “Like he abided by the injunction, I suppose.”

“That’ll do.  If you can’t control yourself, you’ll stay at the ranch until this problem is solved,”  Ben snapped.

Adam went back to his unpalatable coffee as a way to hide his expression from his father, but he didn’t change his opinion of the method required to deal with Clifford or Kenney.

“I’ve got Steve keeping patrols on the boundary now, but they can still slip by them if they’ve a mind to,” Chad went on.  “Maybe we can get together and increase the numbers?”

Ben nodded.  “Sure, Chad.  We’ve already added extra guards to that stand of fir he’s after. It’s hard to put too many men on at the moment; I’ve got a big timber contract to fulfil and the branding to finish, not to mention all the routine chores.  I’ll see what Jake and Jose can come up with tomorrow.”  He put his coffee cup down and got to his feet.  “I was hoping maybe you’d ride into town with me and swear out a complaint against Clifford.  It’d give Roy something to work with and maybe slow them down a bit.  It’s not just the timber; Kenney’s going to move soon on the vote for the cattle drive, if that goes his way we’re in big trouble.”

“Give me five minutes to talk to Steve and I’ll be with you, and don’t worry about the cattle drive; we’ve got enough votes to hold him,” Chad said, joining Ben at the door.

“Adam, you ride on home.  I’ll be back before supper.”  Ben pushed open the door as he spoke over his shoulder to his son.

 

Early on Saturday afternoon, Adam and Hoss saddled up to go into town.  Adam had failed in his attempt to talk Lucy into attending the dance with him, but he figured he’d go anyway.  Ross and Delphine might be there, and he hadn’t seen them for weeks.  He and Hoss planned a few drinks at the Silver Dollar before the dance, and if it proved a waste of time, he could always slip over to the Washoe Club for some good whisky and pleasant conversation.

Joe watched them wistfully.  He wanted to take Annie, but Pa wasn’t going, and had refused to allow Joe to go without him, saying that it wasn’t fair to ask Adam to watch out for him.  This was a sentiment with which Adam wholeheartedly agreed.  Joe had to stay home and hope that she wouldn’t find a replacement for him.  He had tried hard all week to stay as close to her as possible, for once he was worried about his ability to hold on to a girl.  She was pretty and popular and several of the other boys had tried to persuade her to go to the dance with them.  Not being able to see her from Friday afternoon until Monday gave far too many opportunities to his rivals.  He had taken lots of girls to dances and parties – even kissed a few of them, but this one was different.  When he had stolen that quick kiss after school, his feelings had surprised him.  He knew he wanted to repeat the experience preferably when they were alone.

His thoughts turned to his best friend, or at least he had been his best friend until Friday.  Mitch had wanted to ask Val, but he knew his father wouldn’t approve, although with Joe out of the picture, he was very tempted.  All week he had tried to talk to her, but she been particularly bad-tempered and had brushed him aside.  Joe had sympathised with him and joked that he would do the asking for him.  For the first time in ten years, the two had fallen out and were not speaking to each other.  Joe had been astonished at Mitch’s accusations.  He had no idea that Val liked him, and when his friend told him he treated it as a joke.  Mitch had almost come to blows with him and they had parted on very bad terms.

“Ain”t Mitch comin’ over to visit?”   Hoss asked as he tightened Chub’s cinch and prepared to mount up.

Joe shook his head; now Hoss was becoming a mind reader like Pa.   “We fell out.

He’s not speaking to me.”

Adam looked up in surprise. “What happened?  I thought you two were inseparable.”

“Aw, he’s got some crazy idea that I want his girl,” Joe grinned. “Well, she ain’t exactly his girl, ‘cos he’s scared to ask her out, but he likes her a lot.”

“I can’t imagine either of you being scared of a girl; who is this terrifying woman?” Adam laughed.

Joe joined the laughter. “He’s not scared of her; he’s scared of his Pa.”

Adam dropped Sport’s reins and looked puzzled.  “Now you’ve totally confused me.  What are you talking about?”

“Mitch thinks his Pa wouldn’t approve of her,” he explained patiently.  “It’s Val

Bonner.”

Adam gave a nod and a knowing glance. “Well, now it makes sense.  Yeah, Mr. Devlin sure wouldn’t like Mitch going any place with a Bonner.”  He stared hard at his little brother.  “And Pa wouldn’t want you around her, either.”

Joe sighed. “Aw, come on, Adam.  Just ‘cos her brothers are a bit wild, don’t mean she is.”

“Just the same little brother, stay clear.  Remind me to tell you sometime about a few of the things Jeff and Rick got me involved in a few years back.”  He swung into the saddle and raised a hand.  “Have a nice time with Hop Sing.”

Joe grimaced as his brothers rode away and turned back to collecting the eggs.  He knew Hop Sing had a whole string of other similar chores waiting.  While he worked he thought of Annie and planned a few outings with her for when his punishment was completed. He allowed his imagination full rein, but every now and again as he pictured Annie, thoughts of Val would pop unbidden into his head.  Adam was right; Pa would have a fit if he started seeing her. He didn’t particularly like her, she was too shy. Annie was much more lively and likely to get parental approval.  He grinned; sometimes forbidden fruit was more fun.  He mentally chided himself.  She was his best friend’s girl, but then Mitch hadn’t actually taken her out, and they weren’t best friends anymore.

 

Adam and Hoss wandered into the dance half way through the evening.  Neither had partners, and while Hoss made for a corner where he could watch, Adam headed off to find a dancing partner.  A reel was underway and most girls were dancing.  He looked around for Ross and Del but couldn’t see them, maybe they had stayed home this week.  He’d have to drop by to see them sometime soon. He spotted Mitch chatting to a youngster he didn’t recognised and wondered if it was the girl Joe had been talking about all week.  He idly speculated that maybe Mitch was getting his own back on Joe by stealing his girl tonight.  After a couple of dances, he wandered over to talk to Rick Bonner, who was standing at the edge of the dance floor with a beer in his hand.

“Didn’t expect to see you here, Rick.  It’s a bit tame for you, isn’t it?” he said, helping himself to a glass of fruit punch.

Rick grinned.  “Don’t drink too much of that stuff; it’s bad for you.”  He nodded in the direction of the dance floor where Jeff was dancing with a small dark girl. “My sister wanted to come, and no one asked her.  Guess that’s what you get for being related to me. Pa said it was our fault so we could put it right.”

Adam laughed.  “Must be the first time for about twenty years you’ve listened to your Pa, except when he was rustling cattle.”

Rick didn’t take offence.  He was used to folks referring to his father’s shady past and his own. “Oh, I don’t mind, neither does Jeff.  Val’s a good kid.  It’s not her fault she’s got lousy half brothers.”

“Talking of cattle rustling, Rick, you heard anything about Clifford’s operation?”  Adam said casually.

Rick gave him a searching look.  “You asking if I bin approached?”

Adam shook his head.  “Now, would I?”

Rick grinned. “Yes, you would.”

“Well?” Adam tilted his head on one side and waited.

“One of Clifford’s men has been asking around for drovers.  Word has it that he prefers those who have a criminal record.  But that’s gossip.”  Rick placed his beer on the table and turned his back to the dance floor. “Take it easy, buddy.  He’s hiring gun hands, too. I’d hate to have you wind up dead.  We bin through some good times together.”

“You didn’t answer the main question, Rick.  Who’s he after to head up the drive?”

Rick shook his head.  “We turned him down.”

“Money’d be good, Rick,” Adam said softly.

Rick leaned closer to Adam. “He didn’t actually say it was Ponderosa beef we’d be driving, but for the money he’s offering, he didn’t have to.  I’ve seen you draw a gun in anger.  I’d just as soon not be looking down the barrel.”

“Well, I might just say thanks by asking that pretty sister of yours for a dance,” Adam grinned.

Rick thumped him on the back.  “Just watch what you get up to with my kid sister, Cartwright.  You forget, I’ve spent a few evenings in your company. I know what you get up to with pretty girls.”

Adam moved off to cut in on Jeff and called over his shoulder.   “My intentions are strictly honorable.”

“They’d better be.  She prefers your brother,” Rick laughed.

Adam soon found the truth of this remark.  All the while he danced with Val, she did nothing but ask about Joe.  He did his best to answer her questions without allowing his amusement to show.  He found her concern quite touching and resolved to tease his brother about it when he got home.  After two dances, he whirled her back to Rick and went off to find Hoss.

“You ready to go?” he asked.

Hoss nodded.  “Bin ready since we got here, but you were otherwise occupied.”   He indicated Val with a grin.  “Isn’t she a mite young for you?”

Adam smiled.   “Nice kid, but she has lousy taste in men, prefers our kid brother. Come on, let’s go.  I’ll treat you to a beer before we head home.”  He led the way through the dancers to the door.  As they moved out into the fresh night air a rider came by with a body stretched over a saddle.  Adam frowned.

“That’s one of Chad’s men.  I wonder who died?”

“Wanna check it out?”  Hoss asked.

“Yeah, maybe we’d better.” Adam started down C street toward the Sheriff’s office.

By the time they got there, Roy was lifting the blanket to check the body.

“My God, it’s Chad,” Adam exclaimed, his voice full of disbelief.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5

 

 

Ben Cartwright replaced his hat firmly on his head, and nodding to the preacher, made his way over to where his three sons were waiting for him. Behind him friends and neighbours were also paying their last respects to Chad Hammond, and Roy Coffee was watching each one carefully.  He didn’t share Ben’s opinion that the rancher had been murdered, but he would investigate anyway.  So far, everything pointed to a sad accident.

One of his ranch hands had found Chad’s horse running loose  He had searched and found the body at the bottom of an old mine shaft.  To the Storey County Sheriff it appeared that he had been checking the area for strays and, for some reason, had dismounted and then missed his footing.  This was the only reasonable explanation.  Chad had been upset at his brother’s recent death; maybe he wasn’t being as careful as usual.

Ben had already mounted Buck by the time Roy ambled over to speak to him, and he leaned on his saddle horn as he listened.

“I’ve checked into everything, Ben, just like you asked me to.  There’s nothing to suggest that it was anything other than an accident and no evidence to show that Frank

Clifford was involved.”  He lifted his hat and scratched his head.  “Are you sure you’re not looking for something because you don’t like Clifford?”

Ben twisted his head to one side in exasperation.  “You know me better than that Roy. But it’s mighty funny that only two of the big ranchers stood up to Kenney and Clifford, and now one of ‘em’s dead.  That gives them a clear run at the next Cattlemen’s Association meeting to get Kenney’s proposition accepted.  The support he has can almost certainly out vote us and the few small ranchers who support us.  Without everyone sticking together the fall drive is going to cost me plenty.  With Chad gone that ranch is likely to go up for sale, and Kenney gets his timber.  It’s all a little too convenient.”

Roy shook his head.  “That don’t mean he’s a murderer, Ben.  In any case Chad’s heir could still support you.  It’s the ranch that has the vote not the man.”

Adam walked his horse forward and joined the conversation.  “I didn’t know Chad had any kin; he never spoke of any.  The ranch could go up for sale for taxes and the rest to the state.” He paused.  “The only man around here with enough spare cash to buy the place is likely to be Kenney.  At least he’ll put up the money for Clifford to buy, so he gets the vote anyway.”

Roy pointed a finger at Adam.  “Well, that’s where you’re wrong.  Chad had relatives in England. Apparently he has an heir, a Kit Hammond, who just happened to be in New York and was planning to visit him.  He is coming over to sort out the arrangements. I’ve been asked to act as a contact until he gets here.  Should be about three or four weeks, I guess.”

Ben shrugged.  “I’d be grateful if you’d introduce me as soon as he arrives, Roy.

Maybe I can persuade him to hold on to the ranch and vote with us, at least for a few months until this year’s round up and cattle drive is sorted out.”

The sheriff nodded.  “I’ll do that.”  He walked away and the four Cartwrights turned their horses for home.

 

Later that evening as the four of them sat around the fire after supper, the subject of Chad’s death came up again.  Ben and Adam were discussing what they could do to fend off the challenge from Kenney and Clifford.  Financially, the ranch was stretched to its limits, and any attack right now that cost them money would be difficult to beat.  Joe and Hoss were playing a game of cards for matchsticks.  Joe was winning easily and a large pile sat beside him.  Joe was half-listening to their conversation but didn’t really understanding it.

“Why don’t you want it sold to Mr. Kenney, Pa?” he asked. “Seems to me it would save a lot of work to let him make the drive.”  He gathered up another pile of matches and grinned at Hoss.

Adam snorted.  “Because we’d lose a lot of money on the deal.”

Ben waived Adam to silence and tried to explain, “Joe, the Cattlemen’s Association has an agreement that means we all follow the same course and that is determined by a vote. There are two being proposed.  Firstly, that we do as we have done before: the Ponderosa heads up the drive and all the ranches supply hands to help out.  Whatever price we get at the railhead is divided up in proportion to the number of steers each ranch supplies. The second proposition, from Kenney and Clifford, is that they buy up all the cattle here and make the drive with their own drovers.  At the moment, the vote is in our favor, but the loss of the Circle H vote means Clifford and Kenney will get their way. Once it’s done, they reduce the price they’re offering until the poorer members have to sell out, not just their cattle but their property too. Each one that sells makes it harder for the rest of us to survive against him, even the Ponderosa. Kenney would also get the timber on the Circle H.  He is over-committed with his contracts and without it he can’t survive. Do you understand?”

Joe nodded.  “Yeah, I guess so.”

“It won’t matter to you anyway.  You won’t be going along on the round up or the drive, if we make it,” Adam said with a smug expression, knowing how much his younger brother wanted to do just that.

Joe gave him another angry look then turned his attention to his father.  “I will, won’t I, Pa?”

Ben shook his head, wishing Adam had left this subject alone for a while yet.  “I’m sorry, Joe, not this year.”

Joe got to his feet.  “Why not?” he demanded.

Ben raised his eyebrows. “Sit down and keep your temper,” he ordered “You won’t be going because you will be in school.”

Joe didn’t sit; neither did he control his temper. “That’s not fair!  Hoss had left school by the time he was my age.  Why do I have to stay?”

Ben glared at him. “We aren’t talking about Hoss; we are talking about you, and you have another year at school.”

This was too much for Joe.  He exploded all at once.  “A year!  I’ll be sixteen by then.  I’m not going for another year!”

“You will do as you are told, young man.  Now sit down.”  Ben knew this wouldn’t be the end of it.  He could see Joe beginning a campaign to leave school.  He could recall the battles he had been through with his older sons – Hoss to leave and Adam to stay.  Why was it they always wanted to do the opposite of his wishes?  He harbored a vain hope that Joe might follow his brother to college, but at the moment, keeping him in school was a big enough task.  He knew that as the summer weather improved Joe would begin his annual ritual of cutting classes.  He hoped that this new schoolmaster would put a stop to it; at least he knew that he would hear about it.

Joe sat down but grumbled under his breath until he heard his father clear his throat.  He knew that if he didn’t keep quiet he would be in more trouble.  Ben watched him for a moment then turned his attention back to Adam.

“I have to go to Genoa tomorrow to look at those horses of Jim Barron’s and won’t get back for a couple of days.  It might be worth you going over to the Circle H and having a word with Steve Duncan.  If we can get him on our side, he might be able to sway the opinion of his new boss.  He was Chad’s foreman for five years and knew how Chad felt about Clifford and Kenney,” Ben said thoughtfully.

Adam nodded slowly.  “Steve wants to make the drive, but as it’s not for nearly four months, I guess it’s not his decision.  I sure wish we knew more about this Kit Hammond.  Do you think he’s English?”

His father tapped out his pipe and began to fill it.   “I don’t know. I hope not.  If he is, he will most likely want to sell to go back to Europe, and there is no possibility of us buying him out.  I simply don’t have that sort of reserve.  If he gets wind of Kenney and Clifford’s plans, he’ll certainly sell.  He won’t want to get involved in a range war with Clifford’s men.”  He lit his pipe and puffed on it gently.  “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Clifford move in and start logging now.  You’d better tell Steve to double his guards.”

“You really think one of his men killed Chad Hammond?”  Hoss asked looking up from his hand of cards.

“I’m afraid I do.  Chad had lived on that ranch for enough years to know where all those old mine shafts were located.  He and Tom started most of them back in the days when they thought there might be more money in the ground than growing on it,” Ben replied, his head wreathed in blue smoke from his pipe.

Joe looked up.  “Well he was kinda old, Pa.  Maybe he stumbled.”

His father gave a small smile.  “Yes, I think he was about my age. That would make him kinda old, I guess.”

Joe blushed and Hoss grinned at his little brother’s discomfort.

Adam’s brow was wrinkled in a worried frown.   “If they went after Chad, they might come after you,” he suggested.  He hadn’t mentioned his talk with Rick about gunmen, but it was uppermost in his mind now.

Ben shook his head.  “Clifford’s not that stupid.  He only needed one of us to change the vote.  When he couldn’t achieve that any other way, he went for the weakest. He went for Chad because, with Tom dead, he knew he had a good chance of getting the Circle H.  I guess, like the rest of us, he thought there were no heirs. He knows that if he kills me, you and Hoss would still oppose him.”

 

Later when Joe was in bed, he went over the events of the evening.  If only Pa and his brothers would stop treating him as a kid.  Adam was the worst, and it made him so mad.  He and Cochise could handle steers as well as, if not better, than Adam.

As if his thoughts could make his brother materialise, the door creaked open, “You asleep?” Adam asked as he poked his head around the door.

Joe sat up in bed.   “No, lying here thinking,” he replied, hoping Adam would go away.  He could feel a lecture about to begin.

Adam eased himself down into the padded chair.  “About what Pa said, I hope.”

Joe sighed and sat up, hugging the quilt around his knees, “That and other things.    You know what you said about Mr. Clifford maybe threatening Pa?  Do you think he would do anything?”

His brother frowned.  “No, like Pa said, he’d only have to deal with us.  He might try to persuade Pa to change his mind, but I don’t think he’d harm him.”

Joe relaxed.  “A cattle drive’ll be fun,” he said giving Adam a grin.

“Huh…. Pa said you weren’t going.  Now what are you up to?”

Joe stared at him in wide eyed innocence.   “Me!  I’m only working out how to talk him round… and I will.”

Adam got to his feet and wandered to the window.  “Care to bet on that?”

Joe smiled.  “Dollar says I go.”

Adam took his outstretched hand.   “Easiest dollar, I’ve ever earned,” he said, sinking down on to the bed, which creaked under his weight.  “Oh, by the way, I’d better tell you I’ve been trying to steal one of your admirers.”  He laughed at Joe’s expression of puzzlement. “I danced with this very pretty young lady at the dance last week, and all she did was talk about you.  I must say I was rather disappointed that she wasn’t interested in me.”

Joe’s face relaxed into a smile.   “Oh, Annie you mean?”

Adam shook his head.  “Nope, Valerie.”

“Come on, you’re kidding me.  She’s not interested in me; that’s just Mitch’s crazy idea.”  Joe appeared casual, but his mind was racing; two girls might be more fun than one.

“Well, if she’s not interested, she sure puts on a great act, little brother.   Looks like your southern charm is leading you into trouble,” Adam joked.

“Well, maybe, older brother, but at least I’ve got a girl …or maybe two.  I ain’t seen you with anyone on your arm recently.  Want some lessons?”

Adam had recovered enough from Lucy’s rejection to laugh, and he reached out to give Joe a friendly jab.  “Seriously, Joe, be careful with Val.  Pa won’t approve, and Rick is kinda protective of his little sister.”

“Don’t worry.  I’ll watch my step, might even give you a few tips,” he chuckled.

Adam wondered why it couldn’t always be like this: he and his younger brother in easy conversation instead of at each others throats.  He considered himself a fairly steady character, but he couldn’t always handle Joe’s more volatile nature.  He knew his logical approach irritated his young brother, but he could no more change than Joe could.  They continued to talk about the girls and the cattle drive until their father put his head around the door about an hour later.

“I thought I heard you two.  It’s way past time for you to be asleep, Joe.  You’ve got school tomorrow.”  He looked at Adam.   “And you’ve got a hard day mending fence with Hoss, so it wouldn’t hurt you to get to bed either.”

Adam grinned and winked at Joe.  “Yes, sir,” he said with some sarcasm, causing his father to frown.

Ben waited until Adam had reached the door then turned back to Joe.               “Tomorrow, after school you get this room tidy.  Hop Sing doesn’t have time to clear up after you.”  He indicated the cluttered surfaces and the clothes scattered where they had been dropped.

Joe sighed, “Yes, sir.”  He lay down again and gave his father an irritated look when he pulled the quilt over him and tucked him in.

“Night, Joe.  Sleep well,” Ben said as he blew out the lamp and pulled the door closed behind him.

Joe stayed awake for a while thinking about the cattle drive.  He just had to go.  He would talk Pa into it somehow.  He’d also talk him into letting him have a gun.  Well he had one but Pa didn’t know that.  All his friends except Mitch had them, and they were beginning to tease him about it.  He had noticed Annie admiring Billy Walsh’s new gun and Billy admiring Annie.  Not being able to meet her except in school was making his life very difficult.  He knew that she had been riding with Billy; although she denied that she cared anything about him.  He also wondered whether he should do anything about the revelations from Adam concerning Val.  He’d never really thought about her as a potential girlfriend before, but now Mitch and Adam both thought she liked him.  Maybe he could make Annie jealous.  He smiled to himself,  With all this going on in his head, it was funny that Pa still treated him like a baby, tucking him in at night and checking up on him all the time.  He wished he had been born the eldest.  Then he thought, well, maybe not, it was sometimes fun being the youngest.  He finally fell asleep wishing he could prove to them all that he was grown up.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

 

 

Today had started well for Joe. Pa had gone to Genoa the day before yesterday, leaving Adam in charge, something Joe usually hated, but today it had given him an idea.  Pa was going to be away until tomorrow night!  Adam had seen Steve Duncan yesterday, and today he and Hoss had gone out early to begin the work of rounding up the cattle for the move up to the higher pastures, and they wouldn’t be back until supper time.

He met up with his friends on the way to school and discovered that Mitch, Billy and Annie planned to cut classes.  It hadn’t taken much persuasion to get him to accompany them despite his father’s warnings.   He knew he should have been in school, but he hated the classroom on a sunny day.  In fact these days he hated it any day.

He was fifteen now.  Why wouldn’t Pa agree to let him give up school?  They had argued about it endlessly, but Joe always lost. He could easily hide the caning Johnson would hand out tomorrow, he decided.

They had gone to the southern end of the lake to fish, and he had been kinda hoping he might persuade Annie to go swimming with him.  He smiled at the idea. The morning had been glorious: they had fished and eaten what they had caught.  Joe had been relieved to discover that Annie treated Mitch and Billy as friends and no more.  She reserved her winks and smiles for him.

After lunch the four of them lay back on the shore and talked, Annie beside him, their hands touching.  He had leaned over and whispered to her, and they had got to their feet intending to go for a walk alone, but Mitch and Billy had other ideas.

“Come on, let’s swim,” Billy suggested, grinning at Annie and starting to unbutton his shirt.  Joe smiled; he hadn’t even had to be the one to suggest it.  He had looked at Annie with a sly grin.   She didn’t seem in the least put out by the suggestion.  Yes, it had promised to be a good day and should have remained that way, but fate had decreed otherwise.  He glanced up and saw his brother’s chestnut horse coming towards them through the trees at the water’s edge.  Suddenly the day didn’t seem so good, and there was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Why, for heaven’s sake, had Adam decided to take a detour to check up on the south boundary fences? He was supposed to be in entirely the opposite direction. The Ponderosa was big enough, for God’s sake!  Why did he have to be here now?

“Well, well, what do we have here?”  Adam leaned on the saddle horn and surveyed the quartet.  “Am I wrong?  I thought today was a school day.”

The four stared at him but no one offered an explanation.  Joe sighed,  It was his brother, so he guessed he was elected.  “C’mon, Adam, it’s too hot for school; didn’t you ever cut classes?”

Adam’s mouth twisted into a wry smile.  “That’s for me to know.  Billy, get on home.  And since you live in town, you can take the young lady with you and see she gets safely back.  Mitch, if you’re still here when I count to ten, then I’ll ride with you and explain to your Pa why.  And as for you, little brother, you can come with me and check fences.”  He glanced at Mitch and Billy and started counting. “One… two… three…” he didn’t make it to four.  Mitch, Billy and Annie decided that riding home alone was better than being accompanied by Adam and left.

Joe watched them go with some trepidation.  Adam could be worse than Pa with his lectures.  He had a tongue that could cut deep and make a body feel real guilty about absolutely nothing.

“Well, c’mon.”  Adam said with some impatience. “We’ve got work to do, and I don’t have all day.”

Joe tried to hide his surprise, where was the lecture?  Maybe later, when they were working together, he figured.  He swung into the saddle and followed Sport as they headed back on to the main trail.  Never one to stay silent for long, he had to voice some of the questions or explode.  “I thought you were with Hoss   down in the meadows?”

“Hoss has plenty of help. I wanted to check out the southern boundary fences.”  Adam replied over his shoulder.

Joe rode up alongside Sport and glanced at his older brother and then dawn broke.  “You wanted to see if Clifford was around without Pa knowin’ you might be riding into trouble.”  Joe grinned.

Adam turned toward him with a self-deprecating smile, “Got it in one, little brother.  There’s a stand of trees ready for cutting near the Carson City road.  It would be an ideal spot for timber rustlers to get in and out quick.”

“But why not tell Pa and bring some hands with you in case of trouble?”

“Because, little brother, with a whole pack of us, we’d never be able to sneak in and catch them at work.  Timber rustlers have lookouts, and a posse of hands would be spotted a mile off.”

Joe nodded, admiring his older brother for once.  “So where do we start?”

Adam pulled Sport to a halt and waited while Joe did the same to Cochise. “There is no ‘we’, little brother.  Pa might forgive me for getting myself killed, but he sure wouldn’t be forgiving if anything happened to you.”

“Aw, c’mon, Adam.  I can shoot a rifle as good as anyone, and you gotta admit there’s no one better at sneaking around than me.”  He turned on his charm full force.

“No deal, Joe.  We ride back to the herd and you can finish your day helping out.”

Joe sighed, it had been worth a try, but he had not held out much hope that Adam would take him along to catch rustlers.  “You gonna tell Pa, I cut school?”

“Won’t have to, you’re gonna do that.  If you don’t, he’ll know as soon as Johnson sends him a note.”

Joe acknowledged the truth of that as they set their horses in the direction of the meadows.  “What about… well, back there?”  Joe asked after a few minutes.

“If I tell him where you were and what you were doing, then I’d have to admit to being there.” Adam grinned. “If he doesn’t ask, I see no reason to tell him we met anywhere other than the meadows.  But I want a promise that you won’t go off alone with Annie and try skinny dipping again.”  He turned to his brother, “You are not kids anymore, and her parents wouldn’t understand.  You’re old enough to know that one thing can lead to another. Annie’s seems a nice girl.  Why not ask her father for permission to walk out with her, if you really like her?”

Joe grimaced, “Walking out?  Sounds like what old people say.”

Adam chuckled, “I thought you wanted to be ‘like us old people’.  If you want to see a girl as more than a friend, then that’s what it’s called and that’s what you do.”

Joe shrugged, “I hadn’t thought about it like that.  Not sure I’m that serious about her.”

Adam grinned, “Want to keep your options open for Val, no doubt.  So, if you aren’t serious, then don’t be alone together.  Pa must have told you that.”  He chuckled.  I doubt his little talk has altered much in twelve years.”

Both brothers then went off into gales of laughter as they remembered Pa’s ‘birds and bees’ speech.

They rode along in companionable silence for a mile or two, and then Adam held up a hand and indicated that Joe should move to the side of the trail and keep quiet.  He swung down from Sport, unshipping his rifle as he did so, and Joe mirrored his actions.  They both moved into the undergrowth, leaving their horses just off the trail.

“Over to our right, I can hear voices.”  Adam whispered.  “In that grove of trees.” He pointed to his right.

Joe listened hard but heard nothing.  Slowly and very quietly Adam led the way forward until the undergrowth began to give way to taller trees.  Here the ground cover was less, and the risk of being seen by their quarry became too great to continue.  From their vantage point behind some scrub and rocks, they could see three men talking and pointing at various pines.

“Clifford,” whispered Adam.  “Stay here and don’t move.”

Joe wasn’t given time to respond before Adam was moving through the trees. “You’re on Ponderosa land.” He spoke loudly to the three men, who all turned rapidly toward him, hands reaching for guns, only to find themselves looking down the barrel of Adam’s rifle.

All three allowed their guns to drop back into their holsters.

“Mount up and get out of here.”  Adam added, gesturing with the rifle.

“So you gonna run us off, all by yourself?  You can’t shoot three of us.”  Clifford laughed.

One of the men had side stepped and was now almost at right angles to Adam.  There was no way to cover all three, so Adam kept his rifle aimed at Clifford, figuring that Clifford controlled his men and wouldn’t risk a bullet.

“He can take two of you before you can draw, and I’ll deal with him.”  Joe had stepped forward, and he indicated the third man with his rifle.

Clifford waivered.  It was true they could probably take the Cartwrights down but at what cost.  He would be the most likely first victim.  He held his hands up in surrender, “You got us this time, Cartwright, but only ‘cos you got the kid with you.  Next time you won’t be so lucky.  You ain’t gonna hang on to this timber or this ranch for more than a few months, and you know it.  Kenney’s got you surrounded, and we’ll have the Hammond place for taxes.  You’ll have nowhere to go, no water and nowhere to drive them steers of yours.  We can wait, can’t we boys.”

“Never mind the speech, Clifford, just mount up and ride out of here.” Adam gestured again with his rifle.  Then he backed up, until he was standing next to, but slightly forward of, his younger brother.

He waited until he was sure that Clifford and his men had ridden back to the trail, and then he turned to Joe, “Like Pa says, you don’t obey too good, do you?”

Joe looked at his boots then back up to his older brother’s face. “I thought you could use some back up.”

Adam shook his head, but his eyes were smiling, “Good to know you were there, little brother, but next time try to follow orders.”

Joe’s face lit up like a sunrise when he realised that his older brother wasn’t mad at him and, in fact, was pleased that he had been there to help.  “Sure thing, Adam.  You think Clifford has really gone, or will he just double back when we move out?”

“We’re gonna make sure he’s gone.  We’ll follow at a fair distance until we see where they’re headed.  Then we’ll swing by the camp and send a couple of men up here to keep an eye out for him.  Because if there’s one thing I’m sure of, he meant what he said.  He needs these trees, or rather Kenney does, and he can’t wait for the Ponderosa to go under before he gets them.”

 

Adam pushed his plate away and picked up his coffee cup.  Over supper he had given his father an edited version of what had happened.  In fact, a very edited version. He simply said that he had checked out the herd and taken a swing by the southern boundary and come across Clifford.  Nothing about confronting him or that he was accompanied by his younger brother.  He didn’t like doing it, but he figured Pa would never stop lecturing if he said he had gone there deliberately.  He also reckoned that Joe would be in enough trouble tomorrow when Pa found out he’d cut school without adding the circumstances in which they had met and Joe’s subsequent part in his meeting with Clifford.

“So you saw Clifford leave and made sure he was off our property?”  Ben needed things clarified.   Adam’s story had been a little too clipped and to the point, and Ben was sure there was more to it.  “I hope you didn’t take any risks with him.  He’s fast with a gun and usually has several men to back him.”

“He left when I asked him to.”  Adam said simply.  “After I checked the herd, I rode into town and reported it to Roy.  He said that relative of Chad’s will be in town later this week.”  Adam downed his coffee in one gulp and poured himself another.

Ben glanced up.  “I’ll be riding into town Friday; I’ll talk to Roy then.  One of us will need to go over to the Circle H and welcome him, let him know exactly what’s going on around here.”

“You gonna tell him you think Chad was murdered, Pa?”  Hoss asked.

Ben nodded.  “I think he has a right to know all the facts, even if it is more likely to make him decided to head off back to England.  The man could be risking his life if he stays.  He has a right to know what he’s up against.” He turned to Adam, and his expression was stern.  “Oh, and I heard that you’ve been talking to Rick Bonner about cattle drives.  Would you care to discuss ranch business with me before you discuss it all over town?”

Adam ignored his father’s angry tone. “It was a casual conversation with a friend, no business was mentioned.  Rick told me that Clifford is hiring guns and looking for drovers who don’t mind whether they work within the law or not, that was all.”

“The Bonners are trouble. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell you that in the past ten years.  No doubt the reason Clifford spoke to them is because he is planning on hiring them.  I want you to steer clear of the whole family,” Ben said sharply, banging down his coffee cup.

Adam bit his lip to control the hot words he felt like saying.  Losing his temper would do no good, but he spoke in short angry sentences.  “Clifford has already offered.  Rick and Jeff turned him down.  Like I said, they’re friends of mine, and they don’t want to wind up on opposite sides.”

Ben pushed back his chair and got to his feet, meeting Adam’s dark eyes with a furious glare.  “Stay away from them; that’s an order.”

Adam pushed back his chair without speaking and went out into the yard slamming the door hard behind him.  Hoss glanced at his father’s angry expression and decided to follow his brother before he became embroiled in the argument.

Joe concentrated on the last few mouthfuls of his apple pie, now was not a good time to say anything, and he sure was relieved that Adam had avoided mentioning his part in the day’s excitement.

Hoss found his brother right where he expected, by the wood pile with an axe in his hand.  Ever since Hoss could remember, Adam had worked off his anger on that wood pile.  He watched the muscles ripple under the black shirt as Adam took a mighty swing at an inoffensive log.  The log had no chance of resistance and split neatly in two.  Adam bent and picked up the larger of the pieces and repeated the process.

“Guess with you and Pa arguin’, we’re gonna get the wood cut for the winter double quick agin.”  Hoss observed.

Adam was perfectly aware of Hoss’ presence even before he spoke, but he didn’t stop in his next swing.  “He treats… me like… a child.”  Another log fell to the ground in two neat pieces.

“Could be ‘cos sometimes you gives him cause.”  Hoss drawled.

This made Adam stop swinging and lean on the axe as he glared at his brother.  Then his expression softened, “You should take up giving advice for a living,” he said, slowly.  “Sometimes it’s handy, but not today.”

Hoss nodded assent. “You gonna tell me the rest of the story, or are you gonna make believe that me and Pa reckon you told it all?”

Adam chuckled. “I didn’t think I’d fool Pa, but at least he believed enough to let it go… you on the other hand…”

“Pa was watchin’ you. I could hear you, but I was watchin’ little brother there.  He have somethin’ to do with why you… er… skirted the truth a bit?”

Adam gave a wry smile, “You could say that.  He was down at the lake planning on skinny dipping with Annie and a couple of friends.”

Hoss gave a low whistle.  “Pa sure wouldn’t like that.”

“Nope, he wouldn’t.  He’ll get caught out for skipping school, but I figured with Pa in his present mood that was probably enough.”

Hoss drew a toe across the dirt and looked right into Adam’s eyes.  “He was there when you met Clifford, huh?”

Adam rubbed his ear, a sure sign that he was nervous or worried.  “Yeah, he was there; might have saved me from a beating or worse, too.  I was stupid enough to confront Clifford, and he had two men with him.  I let one of them get behind me.  They could have taken me, if they had a mind to, but little brother was right there with a rifle held on ‘em.  Course, I’d told him to stay under cover, but I’m sure glad he isn’t too hot on obedience.”

Hoss chuckled, “Never was his strong point, and I doubt he’ll change.”

Adam wrenched the axe from the stump and picked up another log.  “Give me half an hour and I’ll be back inside.  Should give Pa enough time to cool off, too.  I can take his orders around the ranch but not when he starts telling me who to talk to and who can be my friends.  I’m not fifteen anymore.”

Hoss accepted that Adam wasn’t going to come back inside for a while, so he nodded and clapped Adam on the back.  “You bin arguing with him for twenty-five years, ever since you could talk I ‘spects.  Neither of you are gonna change.”

 

The next day was as bad as Joe had expected it to be.  Mitch and Billy teased him about the telling off he had received from his brother at the lake and had no sympathy for him.  That wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t recognised the unpleasant fact that the two of them were becoming best friends, with him on the outside of their friendship.

Mr. Johnson was true to his word and handed out a caning to each of them, even Annie.  Joe fidgeted for most of the day; his hand hurt, and he was thoroughly miserable.

Supper was a difficult meal. Adam and Ben were still only talking about ranch business and then only in brief sentences.  Joe was sulkin, and Hoss despaired of them all and concentrated on his roast.  Finally, after nearly half an hour of brooding silence, Ben spoke.

“I met Roy in town today.  He said Hammond arrived yesterday. Adam, I’d like you to ride over tomorrow get acquainted and see what you can find out.  Invite him over here to supper or something.  I’d go with you but I have to see those cattle buyers from Sacramento.” Ben waited impatiently for Adam to answer.

Adam finished his mouthful of food and took a drink of water, knowing that he was irritating his father with every second.  “Did Roy say what he was like?” he said lazily.

Ben shook his head.  “No, he hasn’t met him.  Apparently he got a message from the Circle H saying Hammond would meet him in town on Monday to sort out Chad’s affairs.”

“You want me to tell him everything, or would you rather I just issued the invitation and left it at that?”  Adam said slowly, leaning back in his chair and watching his father.

Ben knew the look.  Adam was being sarcastic and implying that his father wouldn’t allow him to make any important decisions.  Sometimes he wished his oldest son was a few years younger; there were times when a sound tanning would do him the world of good!

“I’m sure you’re quite capable of explaining the situation provided you do it calmly and without expressing your more outrageous opinions.  But do invite him over to supper, maybe Sunday.  I’d like to meet him and discuss our options in some detail,” Ben replied, carefully keeping his temper under control.

Adam nodded.  “I’ll ride over and see Steve in the morning.  Maybe we can get together in town tomorrow night, and I can find out more that way than by talking to Hammond directly.”

Ben frowned.  “I’d as soon keep our business affairs out of saloons, if you don’t mind.”

Adam hid a smile.  “Millions have been made and lost in the Bucket of Blood.  It’s where the real news is made.”

Ben grunted.  “Most of it is made up there, you mean.  I sometimes wonder if anything I read in newspapers I true.  I suppose you’ve seen this crazy idea of making Nevada a state, another of Bill Stewart’s wild dreams.”

Adam nodded.  “It’s not so crazy.  Stewart could pull it off.  Lincoln and Davis both need the silver to continue the war.  Either one of them could mount a campaign to take Nevada. It’s just possible that the tide is turning for the Union, and if that’s the case, Davis will want that silver as much as Lincoln does, and he’ll fight for it.”  He gave his father a searching look. “We could find the war you despise so much is right here on our doorstep.  Our timber for the mines could be more than a business deal; it could support the Union or help to bring it down.”

“I think you’re making more of it than the newspapers,”  Ben said acidly.  “There is no evidence that there is any change in either sides fortunes.  It’s still pretty much a stalemate.”

Adam shook his head.  “Grant’s taken Jackson.  If he takes Vicksburg, then he has the supply lines to New Orleans, and he can cut off Texas.”

Ben glared at his oldest son. “You seem to know an awful lot about what’s going on.  I’ve told you before it won’t affect us here, and I see no reason to change my mind.  I’d rather not discuss it.”

“Burying your head in the sand won’t make it go away, Pa.  Caleb wrote from Pennsylvania, and he says – “

Ben’s fist came down on the table with a bang.  “I said, I don’t want to hear it!  You have a job to do here.  Concentrate your excess energy on sorting out this problem with Kenney instead of wasting time on things you know nothing about!”

Adam held his father’s angry stare with equanimity. “Did you ever think that maybe Kenney wants the timber because he knows what’s coming, and he wants to be ready to sell out to the highest bidder?”  He pushed back his chair and made for the staircase, turning as he reached the bottom step. “If we are going to beat him, we have to be playing the same game.”

Joe almost gave a low whistle as he saw the expression on his father’s face.  He expected Adam to be called back to apologise, but by the time Ben had recovered his power of speech, Adam’s door had slammed shut.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7

 

 

Adam had known Steve Duncan for about three years, in fact, ever since he had come home from college.  They got on well together and often spent a Saturday night drinking together in the Silver Dollar.  He guessed Steve was probably four or five years older than he and a very experienced ranch foreman, but that only seemed to strengthen their friendship.  Steve had helped him a lot when he first arrived home from Boston.  It seemed easier to ask Steve for help than to talk to his father or their own ranch hands.  He knew Steve hankered after his own ranch and was often depressed at his lack of funds to bring about that situation.  Adam had talked to his fathe, and Ben had offered Steve a homestead on the Ponderosa for a peppercorn rent, but Steve had refused to accept what he considered to be charity.  He was loyal to the Hammonds and intended to work with them until he could find a way to finance his own operation.  Today, Adam wanted to discuss the roundup and the cattle drive.  He valued Steve’s opinion and knew he’d have some good ideas for making the drive profitable.  He also wanted to get Steve’s opinion of his new boss.  He would issue his father’s invitation to Hammond and explain the recent happenings, but he intended to let Pa go into the detail.  He’d only get himself into hot water if he tried.  He had come close to getting his head bitten off last night, and he knew he had better back off.  Pa was fairly indulgent with his mood, but he would only put up with so much, even from him.

He had planned to ride over alone, but as he was saddling Sport, his brothers came into the barn and announced that they wanted to go with him.

“Whatever for?” he said, his tone one of exasperation.

“Nothin’ better to do,” Hoss grinned, beginning to saddle Chub.

“I’m sure I could find plenty for you, if I looked.”

“Then, don’t look,” said Joe with a cheeky smile.

“And I thought you were confined to the yard,” Adam snapped, glaring at Joe.

“Pa said I could go with Hoss,” Joe continued to grin as he saddled Cochise.

“Maybe, but he meant to do some work,” Adam replied, still seething at the thought of an audience when he met Hammond.

“He never said that,” Joe said brightly.  “He just said I was to stay with Hoss.”

“We thought we could ride over with you and see if this new owner’s around.  You never know, he might have a family,” Hoss said.

“Yeah, a pretty daughter around my age would be nice,” Joe mused.  “Then we’re going fishing.”  He patted Cochise and began to lead him out into the yard.

 

Steve was in front of the barn when they rode up to the Hammond ranch house, and he walked over to the hitching rail to meet them.

“Howdy, Adam, I’ve been expecting you,” he greeted them, holding Sport’s head as Adam dismounted. “Hoss, Little Joe, it’s good to see you, too,” he nodded in their direction.

“Pa wanted me to ride over and see what plans you had for dealing with Kenney and Clifford and to meet your new boss.”  Adam began.

Steve nodded and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah, sure. The new boss is here!”  He said with a pained expression.  “Let me get the fence crew sorted for the day, and I’ll take you up to the house and introduce you.”

Adam leaned back against the rail. “Sure, you carry on.  We’ll wait here until you’ve finished.”

Steve walked over to a wagon that was loaded with fence posts and started talking to the two hands.  Adam looked around the yard.  The place was in good shape; whoever bought it would be getting a nice outfit, especially if Steve stayed on to run it.  He was lost in thought when Hoss nudged him.  Looking up, he saw that they were being observed.  On the front porch stood an attractive young woman in riding clothes, her dark hair tied back from her face and a hat in her hands.

Before Adam could give her more than a cursory glance, Steve joined them again. “Come on over to the bunkhouse, the coffee’s still hot, he offered.

“Sounds good, we can talk over a few things before I meet your boss.”

The girl had left the porch and was now just a few feet from them, and Adam could see her more clearly.  He guessed she was in her early twenties.  Alongside Hoss she looked tiny, but despite her short stature, she seemed to have a presence which made you take notice of her.  At this moment her dark eyes were fixed on Steve, and he shuffled in embarrassment.

“Good morning, Miss Hammond.  This is Adam Cartwright and his brothers, Hoss and Little Joe….. “ he said, indicating each of them, this is….”  he was about to introduce her to Adam when she interrupted him.

“Ah yes, you must be Ben Cartwright’s sons from the Ponderosa.  Sheriff Coffee wrote about your father,” she said in a softly accented voice.  “I hope you came over to tell Steve that you are intending to maintain your fence line better than you have been doing, not to waste his time on trivialities,”   she added a trifle sharply.

Adam’s hackles rose immediately.   How dare this young slip of an English girl tell him what to do!  “I came over to talk to the new owner, Mr. Kit Hammond, so perhaps you’d tell your father that I’m here?  Then I won’t waste your time, or mine, on trivialities,” he said sarcastically.

She smiled.  “Perhaps I can help you?”

Steve was trying to attract his attention, but he ignored his raised hand. “I doubt it. I prefer to deal with the man in charge,” he said in a faintly superior tone.

A wry smile touched her lips.  “So do I, Mr. Cartwright, so do I. Perhaps you’d tell your father that I’ll call on him this afternoon.”  She turned to go back into the house then stopped and looked back at him.  “Oh, by the way, Mr. Cartwright, in England, Kit is also short for Katharine not just Christopher.”  She let the screen door bang shut behind her, leaving Adam staring after her, open-mouthed.

Steve shook his head sadly.  “I tried to tell you, but you had to put your foot right in it, didn’t you?  That was Miss Katharine Hammond, Kit for short.  She is the new owner of this place, and, boy, is she going to make Virginia City look twice.  Don’t let that pretty face fool you, she is one tough lady.  I’d as soon tackle a nest of rattlers as tangle with her, even on a good day, and I have a feeling that you already got on her wrong side.”

Adam lifted his hat and ran his fingers through his hair while trying to control the flush that was creeping up his face. “Well, how was I to know? I’ve never met a woman called Kit!” he grunted, irritably.

Joe giggled.  “Well, you have now.  What happened to the famous New England charm?” he asked sweetly, enjoying his brother’s embarrassment

“Oh, shut up,” Adam snapped.  The encounter with Miss Hammond had bothered him more than he cared to admit.

Steve shook his head. We’d better forget the coffee.  I kinda wanna keep this job.”

“Oh, come on, Steve.  She’ll sell up as soon as Clifford offers a decent price and be gone back to England……and you have no chance of a job with him,” Adam said forcefully.

“Maybe, but I think there is a lot more to Kit Hammond than shows on the surface.  I think she just might stay,” Steve said.  “Then I’d better watch out; she’s gonna be a tough boss.”

Adam laughed.  “Steve, you’re getting soft.  What can a girl from England, who’s probably never seen cattle, never mind experienced the hardships of a winter in the Sierras, possibly want from this ranch except money for the latest fashions?  No, she’ll be gone within a month,” he said firmly.

Hoss had already re-mounted Chub, and he looked down at his brother with pity.  “Don’t underestimate her, Adam.  I think Steve maybe right.  She looked to me as though she knew what she was about.  She sure had you beat.”

Adam snorted.  “Since when did you become an expert on women?”

Hoss smiled softly at him.   “Since I saw one that left you speechless.”

Joe chuckled.  “I agree.  I hope she stays around.  I think my big brother might just have met his match with this one.”

Adam swung into the saddle. “Aw, come on.  Let’s get back and tell Pa to expect a visitor.”  He started for home without waiting for an answer and without saying goodbye to Steve, who just shook his head indulgently and smiled at his friend’s obvious discomfort.

 

Over lunch Adam recounted the events of the morning to his father, who listened with growing interest and a half-smile on his face.  He tried to skate over his self-inflicted  embarrassment but neither Hoss nor Joe was prepared to let it go by without comment.  They both teased Adam until frowned upon by their father. “So, we are none the wiser as to Miss Hammond’s intentions,” Ben said thoughtfully, when his oldest son stopped speaking.

“She wasn’t about to tell me,” Adam muttered crossly.

Joe grinned.  “She didn’t like talking to the second in command, I guess.”  He had enjoyed the morning enormously and had foregone the fishing to come home and see what developed in the afternoon, anyone who could make his older brother blush and render him speechless was worth Joe’s vote.

Ben could see Joe intended to make the most of his brother’s mistake, and he felt it wise to put a stop to it before it went any further.

“Well, that being the case, I suggest you all make yourselves scarce before she gets here.  Joe, weren’t you and Hoss going fishing?” he asked pointedly.  “If not, then there are some thistles behind the barn that need attention and some rotten boards in the hayloft to be replaced.

Joe scowled.   He wanted to stick around but could think of no reason for doing so unless he worked. He had pleaded to be allowed to go with Hoss and had promised exemplary behaviour.  It would look most odd if he now changed his mind.

 

After lunch Ben sat on the porch in the spring sunshine to write some letters.  It had taken considerable pushing to get rid of Joe and Hoss to the lake, and Ben was amused that, after all his pleading to be allowed to go, Joe now wished he was confined to the yard for the afternoon.  Adam had disappeared into the barn, and Ben wondered if he might re-emerge when Miss Hammond arrived.

He looked up when he heard hoof beats and was surprised to see a very young girl on a very spirited bay.  He got to his feet and helped her to dismount.

“Miss Hammond?  I’m Ben Cartwright,” he said formally as he shook her hand. She was younger than he had expected, maybe twenty-five but no more. Her hand shake was firm and confident.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mr. Cartwright.  Steve has told me a lot about you and the Ponderosa.  The part I’ve seen is certainly magnificent.”  Her English accent seemed strangely out of place here thousands of miles from her home.  On first glance, he agreed with Adam – she would never stay.  She was too fragile to cope with life out here even without the troubles she had walked into on the Circle H.  He ushered her inside and called for Hop Sing to provide tea.

For a while they made small talk, saying nothing but each evaluating the other.  Ben began to realise that she was assessing him in a particularly cold and analytical manner, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

“Well, we’ve covered all the polite phrases, Mr. Cartwright.  Now how about talking business?” she said suddenly.  “If I understand the situation correctly, this man Kenney wants all the timber and all the cattle so that he can rule the Comstock.  Is that a fair summing up?”

Ben cocked his head on one side and watched her eyes; they never wavered from his for a second. “That’s my opinion, yes.  He’s currently overstretched on his timber contracts for the mines.  He needs more lumber and fast if he is to fulfil his obligations. That’s his number one priority, but in the long term, he wants it all. Chad and Tom opposed him as I do…”

“And now you stand alone,” she said shrewdly. “How convenient for Mr. Kenney.” She paused as if weighing up the situation in her head.  “You think he had my cousin killed, don’t you?”

Ben nodded.  “I think he had Clifford arrange it, yes, but I can’t prove anything.  Miss Hammond, your position is dangerous.  If you take my advice, you’ll sell out as soon as possible and go back to England.”

She smiled, and Ben saw a definite mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Your advice could cause your downfall, couldn’t it, Mr. Cartwright?  If I sell to Kenney, it would only be a matter of time before he would squeeze you out, too.  Steve explained about the closed boundaries and the importance of the cattle drive,” she paused.  “You’re a strange man. I would expect you to fight, and you will I’m sure.  So why throw away your best chance of victory?”

“Chad and Tom were my friends, old friends, and I don’t want to see any kin of theirs get hurt to protect my ranch,” he smiled. “Particularly, when she’s as young and pretty as you.”

She smoothed her skirt and then looked up at him coyly through half-closed eyes, as if flirting with him. “Oh, Mr. Cartwright, now you’ve spoiled it.  I thought you were a man of purpose, a determined man, a man I could work with, but you just made the mistake of all men.”

He frowned at her, puzzled at her statement.

She relaxed, and her expression became open and businesslike again but with a wry smile. “Young and female doesn’t mean dumb and scared.  If you want a partner against Kenney, you’ve got one, but please don’t patronise me.”

Ben acknowledged his mistake with a nod of his head.  “Alright, Miss Hammond. If you really do understand what’s at stake here and how far Kenney will go to win, I accept.”

“Kenney has already gone to murder, as I see it.  I’d say he will stop at nothing to achieve his ends.  By the way, Mr. Cartwright, did you know that Kenney has friends in certain high places?”

“That isn’t going to make any difference to my intention to stop him,” Ben said with a tinge of anger to his voice.

“That isn’t what I meant. Chad corresponded regularly with my late father, and he mentioned Kenney a time or two.  He came here about three years ago, am I right?”

Ben nodded, interested at where this was going.

“I knew I had heard the name somewhere on my travels.  I was on the east coast in ‘58 with my father.  He was trying to set up some shipping business between Liverpool and the east coast cities. We met a lot of people, but I’m very good at recalling names, so when Kenney’s name seemed familiar, I did some checking in New York.  Mr. Kenney has some very interesting bedfellows.  He has or had a business partner called Stanton, who exports to England. They used to run an import and export company, but I couldn’t find out if Kenney is still a partner.  There is no record of him selling out, but then there is nothing to say he is still active in the company either.  Mr. Stanton, however, has a plantation in Georgia, and guess what he exports, Mr. Cartwright?  Cotton…  It took me a while to place him, but I finally did.  I met him at a reception I attended in Savannah.  The reception was given by the man who is now the Confederate Vice-President, Alec Stephens!”

Ben whistled softly. “Now, wait a minute.  Are you’re suggesting that the Vice-President of the Confederacy is in some way involved in this game Kenney is playing?”

She shrugged. “I’ve no idea.  It could be coincidence, but for a man who professes to be a staunch Union supporter, he has some strange partners.  I discovered that Mr. Stanton is still exporting through the blockade.  His cotton is being sold on the Liverpool market.”

“Miss Hammond, you have obviously checked everything out very thoroughly.  I’m sorry I underestimated you.”

She grinned.  “Don’t worry, Mr. Cartwright, I’m getting used to it. In fact, it might even work to our advantage….” she stopped and fixed him with her dark eyes.  “That is, if we are partners?”

“If you want to be cold, tired, and shot at, who am I to stop you?”  He smiled.

She got to her feet and brushed her hands down her skirt “I’d better get back, Steve worries if I’m out alone, and if it gets dark, he’ll be sure I’ve been eaten by a bear or something.”  She grinned and looked more like a schoolgirl than the owner of the second largest ranch in Nevada.

Ben rose, too, and showed her to the door.  “I’ll get one of the boys to ride back with you.”

“Mr. Cartwright, I thought I’d just established that I wasn’t dumb or scared?”  She smiled again “But if you could make it your eldest son, I accept.  He still needs convincing.”

Ben laughed.  He had a feeling he was going to like working with this young lady.

 

Adam was in the middle of evening chores when his father called, and he stuck his head around the barn door and yelled back.

Ben waited patiently until Adam put down the rake he was holding and made his way over to the porch.  “Miss Hammond is ready to leave, and I think it would be safer if one of us rode along with her,” he said, with a crooked smile at Kit.

Adam resisted the temptation to say, why me, and nodded.  “It is getting dark and who knows what’s about.”  He said with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Kit hid a smile.  “I would be most grateful, Mr. Cartwright… uh, Adam.  I am accustomed to riding around my late father’s estate in England, but of course we don’t have lion and bear, just the odd poacher,” Kit replied with equal sarcasm.

“I’ll get my horse saddled and ask Smoky to bring yours around.”  Adam gritted his teeth and stayed polite.

While she waited for the horses, Kit thanked Ben for his hospitality and for filling her in on the background to her inheritance.  She took the reins from Smoky and smiled up at Adam who was already mounted.  “I will be staying, Mr. Cartwright, at least until I can find a buyer who really wants the ranch and not just the timber and its vote.  After that, it depends on what I find to keep me here.”  Her eyes twinkled as she looked back at Ben.

For the first few minutes of the ride, both were silent.  Adam still piqued at being taken away from his chores to ride all the way to the Hammonds and Kit because she was studying him.  She had quizzed Steve about him after the visit and liked what she heard.  She knew he had been embarrassed at his mistake in front of his brothers, and she was trying to find a way to put that behind them.

“I’m sorry if I took you from your work, but your father seemed to think I needed an escort.  If you want to turn back, I will be fine.”  She tapped the long leather scabbard on her saddle.  “I have my trusty rifle, and I can handle one.”

“So can Clifford, and you wouldn’t even see him,” Adam said, shortly.

“And you would?” she retorted hotly.

“I know where an ambush is mostly likely, yes.”

“Adam, why don’t you like me?  Is it because you made an honest mistake and were embarrassed in front of your brothers?  If so, I’m sorry I made it worse, but you really did ask for it.  You were so pompous and sure of yourself; I couldn’t help myself.  My father always said my sharp tongue would get me into trouble, and it does.”  She slowed her horse to a walk and looked up at him.  His chestnut gelding was tall, and in the saddle, he was even taller and, if possible, more handsome.  She really did want to be friends.

Adam’s expression was surly until he looked at her.  Her eyes were sparkling, and she had a tiny smile lifting the corners of her mouth.  “Miss Hammond, my brothers have made the most of the incident, but I doubt they will raise it again.  What say we start over?  I’m sorry I assumed you were a man and was less than gracious when I found out otherwise.  As my father would say, my education got in the way of my thinking.”  He smiled at her.  “And I would be pleased to escort you home and make sure that those bears and lions don’t come out to eat you.”  His mind and his eyes were on Kit, and he suddenly realised she wasn’t listening.

“Up there on the ridge,” she said, urgently, “I saw a movement, a horse maybe?”

Adam glanced in the direction of the ridge above the trail but saw nothing.

“Are you sure? We’ve no hands around this part of the ranch today.”

“There you go, doubting me again.  It was only fleeting, but there is something or someone there, just where the trail narrows, and we will have no cover.”  She reined her horse back a little and bent as if to check something, then swung down and began inspecting the cinch.  “There it is again,” she said as she straightened up as though preparing to mount.  “You can do as you please, but I am heading for those rocks to the right.”  Not waiting for him to answer she did just that.  Wrapping the horse’s reins around a bush, she unshipped her rifle and scrambled behind two rocks.

Adam hesitated for only a moment, but then seeing that she was not going farther, he sighed and followed her.  He had barely made the shelter alongside her when a bullet whistled past his left shoulder and pinged off the rock he was making for.

“Believe me, now?” she chuckled as he ducked for cover, his own rifle in his hand.

He grunted.  “Now we need to know how many?”

“That, I can’t say.  I saw a movement, not a full picture.  But you can bet it’s not a lone gunman.  From what I’ve heard from your father, Clifford is too canny for that.”  She settled herself against the rock and took aim with her rifle.  “Let’s see if we can answer your question.”  The bullet ricocheted off a rock a few feet from where she had seen the movement.  Almost immediately there were two answering shots, both going wide of her and over her head.  “At least two of them, and both up and to our right,” she said, levering another shell into the chamber.

“Where did you learn to shoot like that?”

“Grouse moors in Scotland.”  She said, shortly.  “I’m better if the target is moving, even better if it flies.”  She grinned at him.

He shook is head in amazement.  “We need to split up and try to flush them out.  You stay here, and I’ll work my way up the trail a bit.  Then I’ll see if I can get them to show themselves and give you a good shot.”

A few minutes later a shot whined over Adam’s head as he made a run for cover behind a manzanita bush.  Almost immediately a rifle shot came in answer and there was a shout from one of the ambushers.  He couldn’t tell if the shot had caused major or minor injury and kept moving from rock to bush along the trail.  He really needed to get above the gunmen, but there was little or no cover if he went higher.

Kit kept up a steady stream of shots in reply to any that came from above, and soon she could see that Adam was at a point where there was no more cover for him.  Without thinking she dodged into the open and back again just as he judged his run for the rocks at the top of the trail.  A bullet whistled past her, but she was back behind her rock. She smiled as she saw that Adam was now a little above the gunmen.

She waited until she thought he had had time to settle then dodged out again.  This time the shot went wide of her, but she heard a shout and knew that the gunmen had exposed his position in order to fire at her.  Adam’s shot must have been true.  She waited and fired a couple of times but there were no answering shots, so she slowly raised her head and looked around.  Adam had also fired a couple of times and was now making his way down toward the gunmen.  Judging it was safe to move out, she went to join him.

Kit looked down at the two bodies with relief and a little nausea.  She might boast about her shooting, but she had never before shot a man.  She felt a little shaky and sat down heavily on a nearby rock.

Adam had checked that both men were dead and then turned to her. “Are you alright?  You didn’t get hit?”

Kit let out a long breath, “Yes, I’m fine, well maybe not fine, but not injured.”

“What were you trying to do down there, commit suicide?”  Adam’s was angry, and it showed, “Of all the fool things to do.  It’s the sort of thing I expect from my little brother.  You could have been killed.”

Kit had been on the point of tears from her fright, but his anger fired her up again. “It worked didn’t it?  If I hadn’t done something they would have had a clear shot at you when you went for position.”

“You wouldn’t have been much help if you were dead,” he shot back.

“Neither would you.”  Suddenly the tension of the last half hour and the shock of killing a man overwhelmed her and the tears started to fall.  She brushed them away angrily.

Adam’s arm went out to her, and he pulled her close.  “First time you’ve shot at another human being, right?”

She allowed him to hold her and nodded.

Adam kept his arm around her and felt her trembling.  “We need to get you home and a large brandy inside you.  The Ponderosa is nearer.  I can send someone for the bodies and get a message to Steve.  How does that sound.”

She stayed within his embrace and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.  “Your father won’t mind?” she asked.

“No, he’d expect it.”

“Huh, I just got through telling him how strong I was as a partner for defeating Kenney, and here I am a wet mess at the first sign of trouble.”  She gave a weak smile.

“Shooting a man is not something to be taken lightly, even if they were trying to kill us.  I can assure you it hits every good man,” he grinned, “or woman, with the same feelings of remorse.  You wouldn’t have much of a conscience if it didn’t.”

He helped her into the saddle and they rode back in silence.  Slowly Kit began to recover, and by the time they reached the ranch house, she was able to give an account to Ben and compose a message to Steve that wouldn’t have him running over to see if she was alright.  Ben despatched four of the hands to deliver it and to mount a guard on the road where the ambush had taken place.

 

Kit stayed overnight at the Ponderosa, but the next day saw her itching to get back to her own ranch and to set things in motion for more guards.

“How do we continue to work a ranch when everyone is always looking over their shoulder?” she asked Hoss as he escorted her home.  Adam had gone into town with a couple of ranch hands to take the bodies to the sheriff and to try to find out a bit more about their attackers.

“Makes it a mite harder, but we got good hands.  If they ride for a brand they fight for it too.  Most o” your hands worked for Tom and Chad for years; they’re not gonna let ya down when you need ‘em.”

She rode for a few minutes mulling over his statement.  “But will they fight for me? They don’t know me.  For all they know, I could sell out from under them at anytime.”

Hoss nodded. “You could, but I don’t think you’re that sort of gal.  And they won’t think so either.”  He tipped his head on one side and eased himself in the saddle. “What made you come out here, and what would make you stay?”

Kit bit her lip and looked thoughtful.  Should she tell him why she was here?  Would he think less of her; would he tell everyone?  She studied his kind, gentle face for a few moments.

“You doan ‘ave to tell me if you’ve a mind to keep it to y’urself.”

She considered and decided that she could trust him.  In fact she was fast learning that she could trust all of the Cartwrights.  “I’m running away,” she said, softly.  “I was supposed to be married to a banker, but I couldn’t go through with it.  I didn’t quite leave him standing at the altar but near enough.”

He looked at her sad face and heard the guilt and unhappiness in her words.  “You musta had a good reason.”

“I thought so at the time.  I was unsure that it was the right thing to do, so I came to friends in New York.  My late father had a lot of business contacts in this country, and since I inherited his estate last year, I have tried to keep in touch with them.  My bank informed me of Tom’s and Chad’s deaths.  Maybe Cousin Chad’s legacy just gave me an excuse not to go back.  I’d cancelled the wedding just three weeks before the date we’d fixed. When Chad died, I wrote and told my fiancé that I had to sort things out here, then I’d consider going back.  But since I’ve been here, I’m finding it harder and harder to think of reasons to go back.  I know now that I don’t love him.  He wanted me to be something I’m not: a lady!  I don’t want calling cards and afternoon teas. I love this wild land and the excitement of being in a new country.  I want to be a part of it.”

Hoss chuckled, “Well, you’ve had the excitement, right enough.  But after you’ve been here a while, you might miss those teas and hate it when it’s cold and the snow piles up over your door and you still have to go out and tend the stock.”

“I don’t think so.  I am learning to love the people, too.  Everyone is so strong and practical, and they help one another.  It’s a man’s country but not in the way England is.  Here a woman can work alongside her man – not be a servant to him.”

He eased himself in the saddle and looked across at her. “Ask some of the wives with five or six children who still have to work the farms, and they might not see it that way.  It’s not an easy life for a woman.”

“But don’t you see, Hoss, here a woman really can be an equal, a partner, not just a pretty hostess who is wheeled out to business dinners.”

“Not many men ‘ud see you as an equal partner, miss.  I think you might be seein’ things different ‘cos of what you want to see. Give it a few more months before you decide that it’s what you want.”  His concern for her showed in his expression.  “You might miss that fiancé of yours and want to go home and be protected and treated like a lady after fighting Kenney.”

“I feel protected right now,” she smiled up at him, “I felt protected by your brother, Adam, even when those men were shooting at us.”

Hoss was nobody’s fool, and he saw the light in her eyes when she spoke of Adam, “Don’t go making him into no knight in armor; it ain’t a role he’s good at.  I bet he was mad atcha for riskin’ your life and puttin’ yourself in danger.  Adam likes his women strong, that is ‘til they argues back at him, then he ain’t so sure.”

She laughed, “Don’t worry, Hoss.  I am not about to fall for your brother. He’s the type of man I like for a friend, but I like my men softer around the edges.  Anyhow, I left one man in England.  I don’t need another just yet.”

Hoss flushed beet red, “I didn’t mean… uh, I was …”

“Yes, I know, protecting me from myself and your brother from the advances of a predatory female.”  She chuckled.  “I’ve a feeling we can both look out for ourselves.  Now tell me more about the Ponderosa and why it means so much to all of you.”

The rest of the ride passed pleasantly as Hoss did what he loved best: talked about his family.

 

Adam talked to Roy Coffee. The two bushwackers were identified as drifters who had been seen around town for the past couple of weeks, but no one seemed to know much about them.  He decided to stop off at the Bucket of Blood for a beer and immediately ran into Rick Bonner.

“You takin’ up all day drinkin’,” Rick joked as he slapped Adam on the back, making him spill his beer.  “You’re Pa won’t approve, ya know.”

Adam sighed,  set down the beer glass and wiped his wet hand on his pants.  “He doesn’t approve of me talking to you, but you’re getting hard to avoid.”

Rick leaned on the bar and moved a little closer to Adam. “Saw those two bodies you brought in.  Thought you might like to know who they was workin’ for.”

“And you’d know that, would you, even though the Sheriff didn’t?”  Adam’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Yep, I mixes in the right circles, he don’t.”  Rick nodded to the barman for a beer.

Adam tossed a few coins at Sam, the bartender. “Okay, beer’s on me if you can tell me anything I don’t already know.”  Rick turned with his back to the bar and leaned back, taking a long swallow of beer.  “Was a time when you knew it all, but then a college edication don’t help too much when you’re dealin’ with scum like those guys.”  He looked around the bar and decided that there was no one listening who mattered.  “They was drinking in here with old Eli Webb a few nights back.  Money changed hands.”

Adam shrugged, “Old Eli never has enough for the price of a beer let alone to pay for a hired gun and why would he?.”

“Didn’t say he did.  Just that he were the one as handed over the cash.  Eli’ll run errands for anyone for the price of a bottle.  This time his bottle came from Sonny Watson…”  Rick let the information sink in.

Adam added and made two and two into four real quick.  “And Sonny works for Clifford.”

“You got it.”  Rick took another swallow of beer.

“You sure about this, Rick?”

“I’m sure.  See, I was offered the money first, not to run the errand, to do the job.”

Adam almost whistled. “What made Clifford think you’d take it?”

“Jeff’s got ‘iself into debt over a poker game with Clifford.  We was offered a way out.”

Adam twisted his beer glass in his hand and then looked at his one time friend, “You refused because of friendship, Rick?”

Rick laughed.  “Mebbe, that, and well… she sure is a pretty little filly.  I don’t hold with hurtin’ women.  And like I said before, I don’t wanna end up on the end of your gun. It was the girl we was supposed to scare off.  Clifford didn’t figure on you bein’ there.  He wasn’t fussy if she was winged or even killed, and he sure didn’t care about anyone with her.  Guess those two guys figured dead men don’t tell no tales.”

“You got the money to pay Clifford?”  Adam asked, casually.

Rick put down his glass and rubbed his nose.  “I kinda borrowed it.”  He looked up quickly at Adam, “You don’t need to know where from.  Let’s just say the herd’s big enough for the few I took not to be missed, and I sold the beef in Placerville and burned the hides.”

Adam shook his head in amusement, “How short is my tally.”

Rick stood up straight and looked indignant.  “I didn’t say they was Ponderosa beef.  I ain’t touched your herd, well not since you caught Pa,” he grinned.  Jeff says Clifford was cheatin’, so seemed only fair he pay up.”

At this Adam roared with laughter.  “You paid Clifford with his own money!”

“Keep your voice down, he don’t know it yet.” Rick’s face had a mischievous grin.

“You’re playing with fire, Rick.”  Adam was serious now.

Rick shrugged. “Didn’t we always.  You, me, Cal and Ross, we was a good team, until you three got religion and started being respectable citizens.”

“Do me a favour, Rick, if you hear any other rumors about hired guns, let me know.”  Adam set down his empty glass and turned for the door.

“Sure thing.  Come into town Saturday, and we’ll drink ‘C’ street dry, like we used ta.”

“I had enough drink at college.  I don’t plan to let it get to me now I’m home, but I’ll see you in the Silver Dollar for a beer, this place is too rowdy on a Saturday.”

Rick raised a hand in farewell and sighed.  Ross was married and running his own place, Cal back east someplace fighting and Adam a lost cause as far as fun was concerned.  He turned back to Sam and put down some coins, “Give me a bottle of whiskey, Sam.  He makes me feel old.”

 

On the ride home Adam tried to think of ways to tell his father what he knew without mentioning Rick.  His friendship with Rick had been a source of conflict between him and Pa ever since he had first met Rick, way back when he was twelve.  Adam knew Rick was a bad influence, heavy drinker, inveterate gambler, sometime thief and generally lazy and… no not lazy.  If Rick worked half as hard at earning an honest living as he did at avoiding one, he would be a success.  His younger brother Jeff was much the same but without Rick’s charm.  Jeff was a more morose character, and it was often protecting Jeff that got Rick into his worst situations.  Ben had sent old man Bonner to jail for ten years back in ’50.  He had been released in ’59 just in time to fleece miners of their silver ore for wild schemes, and had spent various periods of time in Sheriff Coffee’s jail since.   Rick supported his stepmother and stepsister, if what he gave them could be called support.  Young Valerie was turning into a very pretty young lady with none of her step-brothers wild ways, and Adam could see why Joe was attracted to her.  He considered the two of them.  Valerie was too quiet for Joe. It was the excitement of forbidden territory that attracted him.  Ben would be no more accepting of Joe’s friendship with Valerie, than he was of Adam’s with Rick, in fact probably less so.

 

Saturday was a bright sunny day, and the work went well.  Surprisingly, Ben had accepted Adam’s story about Clifford’s involvement in the ambush without too many questions.  There had been no further sign of timber thieves or cattle rustlers or any other enemy.  And as the Cartwright family got ready for the Virginia City dance, everyone was in good spirits as they vied for space in the wash house.

“Are you telling me that Hoss is the only one with a date for this evening?”  Ben chuckled.  “Well, that makes a nice change.”  He was already to go and had come to see what state his sons were in.

“Hoss ain’t gotta date; he’s going with Bessie Sue.  It ain’t the same.”  Joe grumbled as he brushed down his blue jacket and checked his hair in the mirror over the wash house bench.

“She’s enough for two dates.”  Adam joked as he firmly moved Joe aside to slick back his own hair.

For once Hoss didn’t rise to the bait.  “You fellas just need a little of my charm, and you’d find a nice girl to escort.”  He tweaked his tie into place and grinned at his father.  “All ready, Pa.  These galoots will be another half hour before they look good enough to attract a lady.”

Ben laughed and slapped Hoss on the back. “Maybe we’d better ride in before them and make sure that all the ladies are warned.”

“Good idea, Pa.”  Hoss followed his father out and slammed the door making the rafters rattle.

 

Once inside the Fireman’s Hall where the dance was being held, Joe found a group of friends and with his father’s dire warnings ringing in his ears, made himself scarce from his family.  He was hoping Annie would be here and he could ask her to dance.  He hadn’t actually invited her as his date, but maybe he could walk her home anyway.  Hoss was soon whipped away to the buffet table by Bessie Sue, neither was much into dancing, but checking out the supper was a favorite for both of them.  Ben was reluctantly whisked away to dance by Clementine Hawkins, and Adam found himself standing alone by the punch bowl.

“You could pour me a glass while you’re standing there,” said a female voice at his elbow.

He turned to look into the smiling face of Kit Hammond.  “Uh…of course, Miss Hammond, good evening.”

She was dressed in a very fashionable burgundy dress with white trimmings.  It looked a little too formal for a Virginia City’s dance, but it was very becoming with a low cut neckline and a tight bodice that made Adam look more than once.  “I got Steve to drive me in, but he said it wasn’t seemly for us to come in together – employer and employee, so to speak.”  She smiled. “I suppose even out here there are certain formalities to be observed.”  She offered her thanks for the punch glass and then looked around the room.  “Is it too forward of me to talk to you, or is that acceptable in the west?”

“Perfectly acceptable as long as we remain in full view of the matrons over there, so that they can talk about us.”  He took her arm and led her to chairs set along one side of the room.

“Where are your brothers?” she asked.

Adam glanced around. “Well, Little Joe is trying not to be seen by Pa, as he is drinking from the adult punch bowl instead of the lemonade provided for the younger members of the town.  If he has one more glass, I might have to stop him.”  He pointed to where Joe, Seth, Mitch and Billy were giggling in a corner. “Hoss is over at the supper table with his date for the evening.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve met the lady, Miss Hightower isn’t it?” she raised her eyebrows.  “She has a very firm handshake.”

Adam laughed, “None stronger in the territory.”

“And you, where is your date, or shouldn’t I ask that of a gentleman?”

“Perfectly reasonable question in case there is a lady with a derringer trained on your back,” he grinned.  “No date tonight.  I came with the family, and I plan to slip away to the Washoe Club, as soon as is decently possible, for a business meeting and maybe a poker game.”

Kit sipped her punch and looked up at him, “You don’t care for dancing?”

“I love dancing with a pretty girl, but these dances tend to bring out the mothers looking for husbands for their daughters, and I’m not in the market yet awhile.”

Kit saw a sadness in his eyes and decided it was a subject better avoided for now.  She set down her punch glass on a low table and looked around the room.  “Then I’ll leave you to slip away and go find some handsome young man to whirl me around the floor.”

Adam realised he was being less than gracious.  She knew no one here except his family, Roy and Steve.  Roy was hardly likely to ask her to dance, and Steve felt too intimidated by her status as his employer, so that left him or his father.  Pa was in earnest conversation with a couple of miner owners.  He set his own glass down and held out a hand. “Before I go, may I have this dance, Miss Hammond?”

She giggled. “Why yes, Mr. Cartwright, I thought you’d never ask?” She took his hand, and he walked her on to the dance floor and took her in his arms for a waltz.  “You don’t know how difficult it is for a lady, when she can’t ask,” she smiled.

“I never thought of that.  I only know that it’s hard for the man, when he has to ask and fears rejection,” he replied.

“Rejection, you, never.  I can’t believe any girl would say no… to a dance.” Her eyes twinkled like stars, and he could see she was laughing at him.  “Oh, I get asked to dance but not always by those I want to dance with.  Now, tell me, since you are leaving for a business meeting, how do I get a man, who I like, to ask me to dance?”

“Tell me who you have in mind, and I’ll introduce you,” he teased.

“Oh, we’ve already met, but I’d like to further the friendship.  Unfortunately he has another girl on his arm right now.”  Kit looked across to where Hoss and Bessie Sue were sharing a large slice of apple pie.

Adam followed her eyes and almost stopped dancing in surprise.  “Hoss?”

“Yes, Hoss.  Why not, Hoss?” she challenged him.

Adam looked blankly at her for a moment, “Uh… sure, why not, I guess.”  He was still surprised and a little puzzled, but after all he had said he was leaving.  “Fine, if you’ll come with me, I’ll show you how.  But I hope you realise how much of a sacrifice I am making for you and my little brother.”  His face now showed definite resignation and maybe even a little fear.

Kit followed him to where Hoss and Bessie Sue were now contemplating what to sample next from the buffet table.

“Good evening, Bessie Sue.”  Adam began politely and somewhat nervously.

“Oh hi there, Adam.  Real good spread, ain’t it?”  Bessie Sue slapped him on the back and almost made him lose his balance.

He turned on every ounce of charm he possessed. “I was wondering if I could prise you away from my brother and perhaps have the pleasure of the next dance.”  Anyone who knew Adam would have to admire his acting skills and his courage.

Hoss’ jaw dropped.  No one ever asked Bessie Sue to dance; they valued their toes too much.  He usually endured one dance, and he was her date.

“Why sure, Adam.”  Bessie Sue replied eagerly.  Adam wasn’t her type, but he was handsome and sought after by other girls, and for once she would like to be envied rather than pitied.

Adam took her hand and glanced at Hoss, “Would you take care of Kit.  I’m sure she’d like a waltz.”

Hoss’ jaw dropped even further. “You sure about that ma’am,  I ain’t much at dancing.”

“Oh, I’d love to Hoss.  The music is so lovely, and I’m sure you dance very well. You are too modest.”

Across the room Ben was trying to avoid Clementine Hawkins, and he dodged behind Doc Martin.

“Hiding from someone, Ben?”  Doc grinned, knowing full well what his friend was doing.

“Yes,” Ben snapped.  “Stand still and she won’t see me.”

“You ought to take a leaf out of Adam’s book and confront your fears.”  Doc laughed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Ben was still grumpy from his first encounter with Clementine earlier in the evening.

“Well, if I’m not mistaken, that’s Adam dancing with Bessie Sue Hightower.  Wonder if Hoss knows?”  He glanced around for the big man.  “Ah, there he is with a very pretty young lady.  Looks like he won out this time.”

Ben followed Doc’s gaze, and this time it was his jaw that dropped: first at the sight of Adam trying to avoid Bessie Sue’s large feet and then at Hoss waltzing lightly around the floor with Kit Hammond.  “Well, I’ll be darned,” he exclaimed.

 

The evening was almost over, and although Adam had slipped away more than an hour ago, Kit had managed to persuade Hoss into two more dances while Bessie Sue sat and ate and glared at them.

“Thank you for a lovely evening, Hoss, I’ve really enjoyed myself.”  She glanced over at her rival and smiled sweetly.  “I think you had better have the last dance with Bessie Sue, or your ears may not still be intact come morning.”

Hoss looked over her shoulder at his erstwhile date, “Yep, I think I’d better, if you will excuse me Miss Kit.  I have been kinda neglecting her.”  He hesitated for a second. Then using more courage than he normally showed with pretty girls, he took the plunge, “Miss Kit, there’s a summer picnic after church tomorrow, I was wonderin’… well like if ‘n you ain’t got no one… I mean if’n you ain’t got no escort…  If perhaps I could…”

Kit rescued him as quickly as she could without seeming to be too forward. “Oh, I’d love to come with you.  Could you perhaps pick me up for church.  I’m not too good with the buckboard on these rough roads, and Chad and Tom didn’t have a buggy.”  Mission accomplished, she thought.  If anyone was going to talk about the Ponderosa’s plans for dealing with Kenney then it was Hoss.  She knew he was smitten with her, and he was so straightforward he would never suspect any ulterior motive in someone he cared for.

Hoss was a bit lost for words at the speed with which she said yes, but he nodded, and his rosy cheeks subsided a little.  “I’ll make sure as I get the buggy for once, and I’ll pick you up about 9:30, if’n that suits?”

“Perfect.  I’ll bring a picnic.”  She wondered wildly where she would get food for a picnic when she had no time to cook.  But if she had to stay up all night slaving over a hot stove, she was determined it would be the best picnic he had ever eaten.  She walked over to the door, collected her wrap, and seeing Ben in conversation with Roy Coffee, she stopped to say goodnight.  “It’s been a lovely evening.  I never realized there was so much socializing in the west.  You certainly know how to enjoy yourselves much better than the staid dances we hold in England and back east.” She laughed.  “I must find Steve and see if he is ready to leave.”

She was just considering what might be in her storeroom for a picnic, while looking for Steve, when a heavy set man almost bumped into her.  He seemed about to apologise but then he stopped and sneered.

“Evenin,’ Miss Hammond.  You make real sure you’re friends with the Cartwrights, ‘cos you’re gonna need ‘em.  By the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll wish you’d stayed in England with them fine friends of yours.”  Clifford had had more than enough to drink, and it made him more belligerent than even his usual demeanour.

“Are you threatening me?”  Kit responded with some aggression of her own.  “Believe me Mr. Clifford, I don’t need the Cartwrights to help me deal with scum like you.  We have such characters in my country, too.  I’ve always found the law an excellent ally when dealing with the criminal classes.”  She glanced quickly in the direction of Roy Coffee and his deputy, Clem Foster.

Suddenly Steve was at her elbow.  “The boys and I are ready to leave, Miss Hammond.  George has the buckboard right outside for you.”  He moved between Clifford and his boss, making it clear that the gunman was unwelcome.

Clifford backed off a little, “There won’t always be Cartwrights around, and your ranch hands will soon find other jobs when the going gets tough.”

“Get lost, Clifford.”  Steve snapped as he took Kit’s arm and led her to the door.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8

 

 

Chores were done and breakfast eaten and the Cartwrights were getting ready for church.  Adam followed his father down the stairs and into the great room and counted in his head, one, two, three… he had barely got to five before his father shouted.

“Joseph!”

It was the same every Sunday.  They all went to get changed at the same time but little brother never made it back downstairs quickly enough to suit his father.

Ben waited for Joe’s answering shout that he was coming then turned to his oldest son, “Adam would you harness up the surrey, or we will be late.

Adam’s face creased in a frown, “Sure, I’ll do that, Pa.  But I was kinda thinking of taking the buggy and asking Miss Hammond if she would accompany me to the picnic.”

His father raised an eyebrow and allowed a small smile to turn up the corners of his mouth, his eyes twinkling.  “I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”  He raised a hand to stop Adam’s protest.  “Your brother has already taken the buggy, and I do believe that I saw him heading in the direction of the Hammond ranch.”

Adam’s mouth dropped open and then closed with a snap, and a dark, closed expression took over his face.

Joe, who had bounced down the stairs at last, heard the last remark and giggled.  “Don’t tell me big brother ain’t gotta date?  I got two; I’ll share.”

He was gone into the yard before Adam could respond, but the frown darkened still further.

Ben watched as a definitely grumpy eldest son went to harness the surrey.  If his sons were planning on courting the same girl, then he intended to stay well out of it.  It was going to make for some interesting fireworks over the next few days without his input.

 

The church picnics were always casual affairs: with games for the children, plenty of gossip and neighbours getting together to enjoy each others company.  Ben settled himself with Paul Martin and Roy Coffee and set Hop Sing’s picnic basket between them.  He had already warned his youngest son not to stray too far, more in hope than in belief that it might actually happen.

“Still no further with the investigation into Chad’s death, I suppose?” he asked the Storey County Sheriff.

Roy shook his head, somewhat exasperated. “I done toldya, there ain’t nuthin’ to investigate, nuthin’ to say it weren’t an accident.”

“Well, I say it was a mighty convenient accident,” Ben bit back.

Paul Martin sighed. “You two planning on ruining a perfectly good day with an argument?  I’ve been working hard all week, and right now I want to relax with Hop Sing’s good food before some child falls out of a tree, Mrs. Nelson has a fainting spell or I’m called away to deliver Mrs. Johnson’s sixth.”

Both Ben and Roy relaxed their combative positions and laughed.  It was true.  These picnics tended to be short lived for the only doctor in town.  Paul was invariably called away before the event was even half over.

“We’ll call a truce for today, will that suit you?”  Ben grinned.  “I plan to enjoy myself before my two sons start an argument that even I can’t end.”  He nodded his head in the direction of the horseshoe match where Hoss was throwing.  Kit Hammond was alongside him, and Adam was standing to one side, glaring at his brother.

“Hoss won himself the lady this time, has he?”  Paul chuckled.  “Adam sure won’t like that.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Ben sighed.

Adam didn’t like it, but he had no opportunity to do anything about it.  Kit was pleasant to him, but her allegiance was to her date for the afternoon.  After his team had been roundly beaten at horseshoes, he decided not to inflict his bad mood on his family and wandered over to where Rick and Jeff were trying to win a prize from the ring toss stall for Valerie.

“Your aim’s off.”  He commented when Jeff missed for the third time.

Jeff turned sharply and grinned when he saw who it was, “Val wants that blue glass necklace, and I cain’t seem to hit it.”

“You couldn’t hit the floor with your hat after the whiskey you’ve drunk, boy,” Rick shoved his brother aside. “Let me try.”  He slapped down the quarter and took up three rings.  None of them came near the pretty necklace.

Adam nodded to the stall holder. “Better let me do it; your aim’s no better’n Jeff’s.”  He set down his quarter and took up the rings.  With one smooth movement the first ring settled over the necklace and the second over a matching bracelet.  “There you go, Valerie.”  He handed his prizes to the girl.

“Thank you, Mr. Cartwright.”  Her eyes sparkled as she took the treasures.

“My pleasure, and it’s Adam… Mr. Cartwright is my Pa.”

Valerie blushed prettily and smiled up at him.

“Okay, smart guy, so you’re better at rings than we are.  Word has it you ain’t got a date, but I’m not about to let you loose with my kid sister,” Rick joked.

Valerie’s blush deepened, “Shut up, Rick.  I hate you both when you’re drinking.”

Jeff chuckled, “Guess you hate us most o’ the time then.”

Rick was grinning broadly, “Here take this…” he held out a dollar, “…go enjoy yourself, and we’ll stay away from you, but you stay away from Adam here.  He’s not to be trusted with the ladies.”

Valerie was red from her neck to her ears but she snatched the note and flounced off, only stopping to say another thank you to Adam as she passed.

Rick leaned back against the stall, “Guess we shouldn’t tease her so much, but she’s just so darn cute when she’s mad at us.”

Adam shook his head, “Don’t forget how much she knows about you.  One day she might turn you in to the law,” he said, only half joking.

Rick sobered a little, “Naw, she’s a good kid.  Talking of the law, you heard any more from Clifford?”

Adam nodded and related his encounter with Clifford and his men.  “He’s getting closer to logging on our property.”

“You need a couple of extra guns, you only gotta ask,”  Rick suggested.

Adam raised one eyebrow.  “Can you imagine my father hiring guns, and even if he did, I think you’d be last on his list.”

“He hired me once,” Rick protested.

“Yeah, and you stampeded his herd,” Adam replied.

“Nope, you did that with your firecrackers,”  Rick chuckled.

“All Cartwrights get into trouble, just not with the law as often as you do.  Which reminds me, I’d better go take a look for Little Joe before he gets Pa in a bad mood with some mischief.”  Adam started to walk away, but Rick caught his arm.

“Kenney will stop at nuthin’.  He’s killed before and he’ll do it again.  He’s got too much to lose to let you win.  He’ll even let his own men be killed if it gets him what he wants.  He’s got allies you don’t even know about.  Don’t trust no one.”

Adam walked away deep in thought.

To everyone’s amazement, including his own, Joe managed to stay out of trouble all afternoon, and he made it back to the picnic site in time for his father’s curfew. Ben was so relieved that he didn’t even notice the smell of alcohol on his young son’s breath.

 

The following morning at breakfast, Ben and Adam were discussing the work program for the week.

“We could do with more help,” Ben was saying.  “I need two crews for the herd: one on branding and one to separate out the stock for the drive.  The logging operation needs more men, and we still have to find a few more horses for the remuda for the drive.  Don’s doing a fine job, but he needs another wrangler to work with him.”

Hoss finished a mouthful of ham and waved a fork at his father. “I can handle the branding and Jake’s doing okay with the stock for the drive. We’re all set there, Pa.

Ben frowned at the fork in his face, and Hoss blushed and set it down.  “Sorry, Pa.”

“I’ll try in town for another half dozen for the logging operation, but the mines are working full out, and there may not be any miners out of work.  I’m a bit shy of drifters right now.  Kenney could be planting his men among them, hoping to infiltrate our work force.”  He glanced across at Joe then back at Adam.  It was a tempting idea to give in to Joe’s wish to leave school at least for the rest of the summer.  The boy was a good hand with the horses and Jose could use him.  “Adam can you handle the logging operation this week.  If Clifford plans to move, that’s where it will be.”

Adam nodded. “Sure, we’ll be cutting up at Kings Canyon and along the Carson road.  It’s the easiest area for Clifford to jump us, and I could use another dozen men to watch our backs.”

“Well, we don’t have them, so you’ll just have to be watchful.”  Ben sighed.

“We’ll be careful, Pa, the trimmers can see horses for miles.”

“Well, make sure they keep their mind on the job, too.  We don’t want any falls because they are looking out for Clifford and not watching what they are doing forty feet up.”

Adam put up a hand to show he’d heard as he drained the last of his coffee. “I’d better be going.  I want get an early start.  We are so short handed I can see myself doing trimming and supervising.”

Hoss rose to his feet too. “I’m gonna drop by Miss Hammond’s and make sure everything there is okay before I get to the herd.”

Adam glared at his brother but said nothing.  “If Kit Hammond preferred Hoss’ company to his then there wasn’t much he could do about it until the end of the week.  But he planned to get in an invitation somehow.

Joe had been trying to assess his father’s mood, and he figured now was as good at time as any.  “If I stayed home from school, I could help Jose with the horses, Pa.”  It was casually thrown in as though he had no real interest in the answer, but he peered up under his lashes to see his father’s reaction.

Ben was startled as the thought had been going through his mind.  He almost said yes on impulse, then his better judgement kicked in.  “Uh… no, Joseph.  You have school. You can help Jose on weekends but not during the week.”

Joe grunted and sulked for the rest of the meal.

 

Hoss enjoyed his ride over to the Hammond ranch.  The air was fresh with a light breeze, and the sun shone down on the meadows.  He loved the ride through the aspens where there were patches of light and shade, and the trees whispered to him.  He could hardly believe that Kit was interested in him and not his handsome older brother, but he intended to make the most of it.  He did want to check with Steve on any activity around their fence line, but more than that, he was hoping for an invitation to stop for a coffee with the owner herself.  He was in luck. Almost before he had dismounted and tied Chub to the hitching rail, she was there.

“Well, good morning.  Isn’t it beautiful.  I went for a ride almost before the sun was up, and it was just perfect,” Kit greeted him.

“It sure is a lovely day,” Hoss replied.  Then he looked concerned.  “You really shouldn’t ride around on your own right now; Clifford’s men could be anywhere.”

She laughed, “I promise, I was careful.  I can’t stay home forever.  I want to see this ranch that I’ve inherited, and there is so much I haven’t visited yet.  Come in and have some coffee. I’ve some fresh bread right from the oven.  Breakfast was a long time ago.”

“Thank you, ma’am, I’d like that, but I need to talk to Steve about our plans for dividing up the patrolling.”

Kit waved at a young hand who was crossing the yard. “Jack, would you ask Steve to come over to the house.  Tell him Hoss is here, and we need to talk tactics.”  She smiled.  “There you can kill two birds with one stone.”

Hoss was in seventh heaven.  The coffee was far superior to the range stuff he should have been drinking.  The fresh bread with creamy butter and preserves was just the way he liked it, and the company was pretty.  He sat for far longer than he should have and discussed every bit of the Ponderosa operations in detail, trying to find reasons to extend his visit.  Finally, when Steve indicated that he had work to do, he was brought back to reality and rose reluctantly to his feet.

“I guess, that’s pretty much where we are right now then.  I’ll tell Adam that you’ll try to help out with guards on this side of the ranch so that we can concentrate on the area up around Kings Canyon.”

Steve nodded to his employer and then left.  Hoss lingered just a moment longer, but duty called, and he needed to be on his way.  In fact, he should have been gone more than an hour since.  “I gotta be going,” he said shyly, “But, I’d consider it a real pleasure if’n you’d accompany me to the dance on Saturday.  I could pick you up around seven…”

Kit looked a little flustered, “Oh, I’d love to come with you, Hoss, but I’ll already be in town.  Perhaps we could meet at the Miner’s Hall.”

“Sure, Miss Kit, that would be fine.”  Hoss was so pleased with himself that he didn’t come back down to earth until he reached the herd and Jake had spoken to him twice.

 

Adam’s ride up to Kings Canyon was not the usual pleasant journey.  Normally he would have taken his poetry book from his saddle bags and enjoyed a few poems as he rode.  He knew Pa worried when he did this, but whether he was riding Sport or Beauty, they both knew the route and would take him to the canyon without much guidance.

Today, however, he worried about the logging operation and Clifford.  He simply didn’t have enough men to guard the site and work it too.  After a hard day’s work, the men needed rest, and he had no spare capacity to give some a light day so that they could guard at night.  Clifford would sneak timber rustlers into any stand that could be logged quickly.  But, like all timber thieves, he preferred to allow the legal owner to do the logging for him.  Timber already cut was a much more interesting proposition.  As the crew moved along the ridge, Clifford could come in behind them and steal the cut lengths before Adam could get them away.  The only solution was to move the logs as soon as they were cut. This left nothing to tempt them, but it left the cutting crews shorthanded until the empty wagons and drivers came back.  He wrestled with the problem and with schedules and crew assignments for the entire ride and found no solution.

For four days, Adam struggled.  He worked as a trimmer high in the trees.  At least. from here he could see for miles and would hopefully see any move Clifford made.  He also supervised the cutting, loading, transporting and guarding, working twenty hour days in an effort to keep everything covered.  Some of his men were doing similar shifts, and he knew it had to end.  Tired men made mistakes, and in the logging business, mistakes could be fatal.  On the fifth day he discovered that all his guards had been wasted.  Joe rode up to the camp with news from the ranch.  Timber rustlers had struck about five miles from the site where Adam was working.  They had cleared maybe four or five wagon loads of prime lumber, leaving almost three times as much smashed beyond use for anything but firewood.

Adam swore loudly, making Joe grin.  Pa sure wouldn’t approve of that language.

“Does Pa know who it was?”

Joe shook his head. “No proof, but it has to be Kenney’s men or Clifford’s.  They knew just where to go and what to take.  Moved in fast and got out quick.  If they had gone north, Jose would have seen ‘em when he picked up the horses from the meadows, or Hammond’s line riders would have picked ‘em up.  East and they’d have had to pass close by the ranch, and Hoss would’ve noticed wagons passing near the herd.  South and they’d be logging where you are.  They went west to the only other timber we’ve got that is ready for logging and thick enough to make it a quick job.  They sure knew what they wanted and that we’d have no guards there.”

Adam poured himself coffee from the chuck wagon pot and offered some to his brother.  Joe grimaced and shook his head. “Looks like tar.”

Adam chuckled, “Probably is.  Harry’s cook this week.  Hoss gets Hop Sing on his chuck wagon; I get whoever is too sick to work on trimming or cutting.”  He leaned back against the wagon and relax for a moment. “Pa letting you work with Jose tomorrow?”

Joe smiled and nodded. “Yep, two days with the horses, if I can get out of church Sunday.  Pa’s offered a bonus to any man who will work all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon.  I’ve invited Annie over on Sunday to see how good I am,” he boasted.

Adam frowned.  Things must be bad if Pa was contemplating working Sundays.  He had never known anyone on the Ponderosa to work a Sunday, except for essential chores with the stock.  “Tell Pa that all is fine here.”  He answered with as much conviction as he could muster.  “I’ll try to get down to the ranch Sunday.  I have to give the men a day off.  They’ve been working all the daylight hours.  I’ll leave just enough to guard the camp.”  He thumped Joe on the back. “I have to get back to work, little brother, and you’d better get home for supper or Pa will worry.”  He beckoned to a stooped old man with a battered hat.  “Zeb, ride back with Little Joe, willya.  I want Doc to take a look at that arm of yours; it’s not healing like it should.”

Both the old logger and Joe looked disgustedly at Adam.  Joe knew he was being given an escort because Adam was worried about him out alone as it grew dark, and Zeb knew he was being sent back to the ranch because he was a liability in a logging camp with one arm out of action.  Zeb didn’t object because the young ‘un needed a second gun along, and Joe threw his brother another look before accepting that Adam wouldn’t change his mind.

 

Joe was even more irritated to discover that while Pa might want to work on Sunday afternoon, he was still determined that they go to church on Sunday morning.

Hoss consoled his little brother with the thought that he would be able to escort Annie out to the ranch and even invite her for lunch.  Hop Sing was back in his kitchen for the day, and a good roast and maybe apple pie would be served.

Joe fidgeted all through the service, and as soon as he could decently get away from Pa, he headed for the Kempster family group.  He had never met any of Annie’s family before, and he was surprised to see that her brothers were both full grown and big fellas at that.  Her father looked like a business man in his smart Sunday suit, and her mother was dressed like one of those pictures in a fancy catalogue.  He wondered what her brothers did; she had never talked about them much.  One had a fancy waistcoat and his hair was what Pa would call long – a riverboat gambler, that was Pa’s expression, but there were no riverboats hereabouts.  The other was neatly dressed, but he looked uncomfortable in a suit, much as his own brother Hoss did on Sundays.

“Hi, Joe.  This is my mother and my father,” she introduced each of them, and Joe shook hands politely.  “And these are my brothers, Alec and Wade.”

“Uh…  Mr. Kempster, I was wondering if Annie could ride back with my family,” he indicated his father and Hoss, now standing by the family surrey.  He had already made arrangements at school for Annie to spend the afternoon with them, but she had been going to ride out with one of her brothers.  “I’d take real good care of her, and my brother Adam will drive her back when he takes supplies back up to our logging camp at Kings Canyon later this afternoon.”

Mr. Kempster seemed to consider for a moment and flashed a quick look at his eldest son, Alec.  “Sounds fine to me, young man, but you’re sure your brother can bring her back?  I wouldn’t want her out after dark without an escort who can handle a gun.”  He saw Joe bristle with indignation, “No offence, young fella, but there are some mighty shifty characters about,” he smiled to soften his words.

“Oh, sure, sir.  My brother will be going back up to our logging camp at Kings Canyon an hour or so before dark.  He’s given most of the men the day off, and he’ll want to be back there to set the guard and make sure all is fine before nightfall.”

“Then that’s settled.  Off you go young lady and be sure to thank Mr. Cartwright and behave yourself.”

Annie nodded, and slipping her hand into Joe’s, they both headed for the Cartwright surrey.

 

Lunch went well with a lot of chatter, and Annie fitted in very nicely.  Her family had moved around a lot, and she could talk of places she had lived on the east coast as well as places in the west.

“You sure have seen some places,” Hoss commented.

“Where were you born?”  Adam enquired.

Annie laughed, “Born in St Louis, but we weren’t there long, so I don’t remember it.  I think the first place I remember real well was Kansas.  Pa had a job in a bank in Lawrence.  We lived there for about three years, the longest we’ve been anywhere. His company sends him to banks that need investment advice, so he never stays long in one place.”

“Which place did you like best?”  Joe asked.

“I’m not sure, probably Charleston, because we weren’t there long enough for me to go to school,” she giggled, “or maybe Texas, because that’s where I had my first pony.”

The rest of the talk was of horses, and soon everyone was heading out to the corrals to start work.  Joe was going to ride, but Ben had refused to allow Adam to take on any horses.

“You’ve been working far too hard this week; you need a rest, even if it is only a few hours.”

Adam didn’t even argue.  Every muscle ached, and the thought of climbing on a green horse didn’t appeal one bit.  “Joe seems real taken with Annie and she with him,” he remarked as he stood with his father by the rail.  “I wonder if her father is really into investments or just not very good at his job and has to keep moving.”

Ben shrugged, “He seems a nice enough man, but not the sort of man I’d take for a bank manager, more a clerk I’d say.  Anyway you’ll get to meet him when you take Annie home.”

“Yeah, about that Pa…”

“I know, Joe’s kinda backed you into a corner, but it won’t take long.  They live on the outskirts of town, and if you leave right after the boys stop working the horses, you’ll still be at the camp before dark.”

Adam nodded, then chuckled. “Little brother sure is showing off for her.”  He pointed toward the corral where Joe was giving an exaggerated demonstration of how to do the checks before the horses was released from the chute.”

Ben grunted, “Just so long as he concentrates when he’s riding.”

“Don’t worry, Pa.  I already asked Don to pick out a couple of easy ones just in case.”

Ben smiled, he might have known that Adam would be looking out for his little brother and would know exactly how a young man’s mind worked when it came to impressing a lady.

 

Ben had extinguished all but the lamp at the bottom of the stairs and was about to use that one to light his way to bed, when he heard the sound of a horse being ridden hard into the yard.  He hurriedly made his way to the window above his desk and looked out.  In the moonlight he could just make out a horse and rider over by the bunkhouse.  Then he felt his heart plummet to his boots, the chestnut horse with the three white socks was Sport, and the tall rider all in black could only be his oldest son.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

 

His heart in his mouth, he rushed outside, leaving the big planked door swinging.  He and his son met at the edge of the porch.

“What is it?  What’s wrong?”  Ben grabbed at Adam’s shoulder to halt his rush to the house.  His son’s eyes were wild, and his clothes and hair in disarray.  He wore no hat and on closer inspection Ben could see that his shirt was torn halfway up his left sleeve.

“The camp’s been attacked.”  Adam gasped.

Ben led him to the seat on the porch and allowed him to regain his breath. “When?  Is anyone hurt?”

“Two dead and maybe five with gunshot wounds.  They must have hit late this afternoon just as the light was fading.  I heard the shots, but with the wagon I couldn’t get there fast enough.  By the time I arrived it was pretty much all over.  They went in fast, wrecked as much equipment and cut lumber as they could with dynamite and then shot their way out.  I’m pretty sure I winged one, and Andy and Slim both said they thought they had hit one apiece.  Only the guards were armed, most of the men were still in town, and the ones who were back weren’t armed.”

Ben put an arm around his son. “Who did we lose?” he said, softly.

Adam passed a hand across his eyes, “Jim Barclay and young Robbie Masters.  The kid begged to be one of the guards, and I was fool enough to let him.  I figured on timber rustlers but not a gang of out and out murderers.”

“It wasn’t your fault, son.  You couldn’t have known…”

“No, but somebody did.”  Adam’s demeanour changed from defeat to one of pure rage.  “Someone knew the camp was almost empty or they’d never have tried it.”

By this time Hoss had heard the voices and was back downstairs, and he greeted Adam as Ben led him inside.  Ben gave him a brief run down of what had transpired.

“Hoss, put some coffee on.  It’s going to be a long night.”

“Coffee alleady on.  You talk,  Hop Sing take care of coffee.”  The little Chinaman padded in and out again.

“Everyone in town would know the camp was empty.  The hands were in the saloons, no doubt.”  Ben sat down and leaned toward his eldest son, who was now seated in his favorite chair.

“No, that doesn’t explain it, Pa.  Andy says that these men rode in from Virginia City.  He recognised a couple of them, and they work for Clifford.  Our hands were in Carson City or home with their families.  We don’t usually let so many men out of camp at once.  It was only because we had been doing twenty-hour days.  Someone had to know that there would be little resistance.”  He clicked his fingers.  “And someone knew I would be coming back around dusk.”  He glanced at his arm, and for the first time Ben noticed the dried blood.

“You’re hurt!”

“Just a scratch, Pa.  There were two of them on the trail up from Virginia City.  They were waiting for me.  They knew I’d be coming back late.  No one could have known I would be away from the camp except the family and a few hands who were here this afternoon.”

Ben shook his head, “Annie and her father would have known.”

Adam grunted.  “Kempster was at his house when I dropped Annie off.  He couldn’t have got ahead of me on the trail, and he has no connection with Clifford.”

“But he knew your movements from about midday when Joe spoke to him after church.  Plenty of time to tell someone else, and his sons would have known.”

Adam was still unconvinced.  “He’s a banker with no connection to this.  Why would he tell anyone.  He and his wife were entertaining Sylvester and Joan Prescott, and there aren’t two more upstanding citizens in the county.  As far as I could see, they had been there since church.  And, as for his sons, they were at the supper table.  Even on fast horses, they’d be hard pushed to have rounded up enough men and got there much ahead of me.”

“Then there has to be someone else.”  Ben stared into the fire, trying to recall if he had said anything to anyone in town.

“Pa, only my own loggers knew, and I’d trust everyone of them with my life – in fact, I do most days.”  Adam simply couldn’t see who else might betray them.

Hoss grunted and his color heightened. “Miss Kit knew. I kinda mentioned it when I took her home from church.”

“Oh, Hoss, she is our partner in this; she’s even been shot at herself.”  Ben discounted the theory immediately.  “If she wants us to fail, then all she has to do is vote against us at the next Cattlemen’s Association meeting.”

Adam looked up at his brother, and a cold feeling came over him. “No she doesn’t, Pa.  I spoke to Hiram Woods the other day, and he was saying that we still have a majority of three votes.  That means that even if Kit Hammond changed sides, at the moment, we could still out vote Kenney by one.”

“Wait a minute, are you saying that she is playing us along to find out our strategy for Kenney?”  Ben swung around and fixed his oldest son with a penetrating stare.  “I don’t believe it.  That little girl is incapable of such treachery.  She wants Kenney stopped as much as we do.”

“Yeah, Pa’s right.  Miss Kit, wouldn’t never do somethin’ like that.”  Hoss’ was indignant at the thought.

“Look, she’s British, right?  The British need the cotton; the South can provide it. All it takes is for them to get more finance, and the Comstock has the finance.”  Adam explained, spreading his hands wide.  “All that information she shared about Kenney’s connections to the South may be just a way to get us to believe her.  Include some truth; show she is willing to tell us what she knows of Kenney.  She knows we can check on his connections. After all, we don’t know what business her father was in, it may have been importing and it may have been cotton.”

“I told you before the war has nothing to do with Kenney’s ambitions for advancement.  He’s a greedy man who has overstretched himself.  Just lately you bring the war into everything.”  Ben’s temper was rising.

“Maybe because it is a prime motive for this kind of financial dealing.”  Adam spoke softly. “What’s his connection to Kempster?  That man has moved around more than most and always in towns connected to the South and its ambitions.  He could be the financial genius behind this, hiding behind that slightly bumbling exterior.”

“The world ain’t all crooked, ya know.  Could be he’s exactly what he looks like,”  Hoss grunted.

Ben glared at both sons, “Well, we aren’t going to find out tonight,” he said, sharply.  Let Hop Sing look at that arm before you turn in.  Tomorrow we can go into town and make arrangements for Jim’s funeral.  He didn’t have any near relatives as far as I know.  I’ll ride over to Genoa and tell Robbie’s parents.”

“I don’t envy you, Pa; he was their only child.”  Hoss said sadly.

“I’ll go see Mr. and Mrs. Masters.”  Adam spoke firmly. “He worked for me, and I put him on guard duty.  It’s my place to tell them.”

Ben nodded.  He understood. Adam needed to do this.  Even though all the hands worked for the Ponderosa, Adam was Bull of the Woods at the camp, and the loggers were his responsibility.

 

Joe had slept through all the excitement of the previous night. and so he was surprised to see his older brother at the breakfast table.

“Hey, Adam, how come you’re here so early?”

“Not early, little brother, I got here late last night, but you were sleeping.”

Joe pointed at his brother’s now bandaged arm.  “You get hurt?”

Adam proceeded to outline the events of the previous night, speaking as calmly as he could.

“I’m real sorry about Jim and Robbie.  Robbie was only about two years older than me; he wanted to be a first rate logger.  Guess he won’t do that now.”  Joe stared into his coffee cup.  “You think Kit Hammond was behind it, huh?”

Ben raised a hand, “Now we don’t know that.  It could equally well be Kempster, both of them knew of Adam’s plans.  I don’t want anyone making any accusations we can’t back up with facts.  But from now on, we keep all our plans quiet, and we don’t tell anyone where our hands will be working or where we will be.”

“You think they’ll try again, Pa?”  Hoss almost whispered.

“If Adam is right about the votes, then Kenney has to break the Ponderosa.  And, if she isn’t involved, then he has to take out the Circle H, too,” Ben replied.

Adam shook his head. “If the Ponderosa can’t or doesn’t vote, then the small ranchers would cave in; they have no loyalty to Kit Hammond.  He just has to stop us voting.  I’d say killing all of us isn’t an option, but killing one of us will take our mind off the ranch enough for him to bankrupt it with timber raids and cattle rustling.”  He gulped down his coffee and pushed back his chair.  “I’ve trebled my guards, which, in itself, plays into his hands, because we can only cut half the lumber if we have the crew guarding as well as cutting.  I have to get back.”

Ben caught his son’s good arm, “Take Lon and Marty up with you. I don’t want anyone riding alone around the ranch or into town.”  His eyes spoke volumes; his worry for his son more than evident.  “I don’t want you trimming until that arm heals either.”

“Sure, Pa.”  Adam brushed off the hand and the concern in one movement.

“Joe, you get your wish, no school for you this week; you can work with Hoss.  Hoss, you take real good care now, neither of you ride alone.”

“At least we can get back to normal after next week.  Once the vote is done, Kenney will have to bankrupt us some other way to get what he wants.  Our contracts are still on time despite his efforts, so with the cattle sold at a good price, it’s going to make it almost impossible for him.  It sure will feel good to get back to some sense of normality.”  Adam summed up how they all felt

Ben watched his son leave and then pondered his words.  Yes, once the vote was over it would make it harder for Kenney, but that was why he had to play all his cards now.  The next few days could be very dangerous indeed.

 

For a little over a week the Cartwrights tried to keep the ranch running while constantly alert for trouble, but there was none.  Roy Coffee had done his best to find out who had been involved in the raid.  But he had no proof, and every man that had been recognised either had an alibi or had gone to ground and couldn’t be found.

On the sixth day, Ben rode up to the logging camp.  Mindful of his own rules, he took two ranch hands with him, intending to give Adam the extra help he needed to complete this contract.

“Looking good, son.”  He praised Adam when they met.

Adam shook his head. “If I could use all the men instead of having a third of them on guard duty or driving wagons to get the timber away to the Ophir on a daily basis, we’d have been done two days ago.”  He perched himself on the end of the chuck wagon, poured two cups of thick black coffee and offered one to his father.  “Kenney doesn’t have to attack again.  He knows that we are slowing down simply with the threat of more trouble.  And five men have quit since the raid.  They have families and would rather look for a safer job than working for us.”

Ben nodded, “You’re doing your best; no one can do more.  Hoss and Joe are doing a good job with the herd.  That boy can certainly work when he has a mind to.”

Adam laughed, “You sure it’s him working and not Hoss covering for him.”

“Now be fair, I’ve seen him.  Hoss has been courting Kit Hammond on at least two evenings, and Little Joe has covered for him.  Thinks I don’t know about that,” Ben grinned.

 

Down in the valley, Joe was complaining about that very thing.  “You sure are stuck on her.”  He moaned as Hoss picked up his jacket and prepared to mount Chubby.

“I done my share today.  Jake is here to boss the outfit, and I ain’t on night herd, so a few hours is my time off,”  Hoss replied, huffily.

“I ain’t saying nothin’, but Pa sure would if he knew you was riding over to the Hammond place on your own and at night,” Joe pointed out.

“Only folks as knows is the hands, and they’ll all be here, sleepin’ or riding nighthawk.  Ain’t you supposed to be doing just that?”

“I’m goin’, me and Cooch’ll take care of the herd for you.  You go get all cosy with your lady love.”  Joe giggled and ducked out of his brother’s long reach.  “See you in the morning.”

Hoss smiled and waved as Joe mounted up and rode out to the herd.

Several hours later Hoss was back safe and sound and rolled into his blankets.  Jake had assured him that all was well, and he was willing to let Jake handle the night herders.  Every hour Jake rode around the herd checking that all his guards were in place and that there was no trouble.  He was relieved to see the first gray light of dawn over the Virginia Mountains as he made his last check of the night.  He counted off his hands, comforting each one with the thought that in the next half hour their morning relief would be riding out from the camp and they would be able to get back to breakfast.  Just three more to check, first old Henry, then Little Joe and finally Slim Cleary.  Henry was right on the spot, riding alongside the cattle and singing softly as he always did.

“Not long to breakfast, Henry.”  Jake spoke softly to avoid spooking the herd.

“Can’t be too soon for me.  These bones is getting too old for night herding.”  Henry pointed to the north, “Heard young Joe trying the singing a while back.  He ain’t quite got the knack of it yet, but he’s doing a grand job for a young ‘un.  That’s what we need – more youngsters to do this sort of work.”

Jake grinned in the half light. “You and me got a few years yet.  See ya back at camp.”

Jake rode along side the herd, his mind on the job.  The cattle were all quiet, but it seemed a long time before he saw another figure ahead of him.  The horse was a dark bay which merged into the herd in this light, and the figure was tall with a Mexican sombrero.  Jake was expecting a calico with a younger, smaller rider.  He kicked his horse to a canter.

“Slim, where’s young Joe?  You sent him back to camp already?”

Slim Cleary glance up as Jake came up to him.  “Ain’t seen Joe since about midnight, when we checked with each other.  He was gonna make his second check with Henry.  Didn’t expect to see him again until we got back to breakfast.  Ain’t he on station?”

Jake swore, “Dammit, no he ain’t.  If he’s sneaked back for a coffee or fallen asleep someplace, I’ll have his hide.”

Slim shook his head, “He won’t a’ done that.  He was too proud of Hoss lettin’ him do a night watch on his own.”

“Slim, herd’s quiet, ride on in and check for me, willya.  I’ll take a looksee around where he should be, see if he fell asleep someplace.”

Jake rode back south, checking in every place a man and a horse could be concealed, but he arrived back with Henry having seen nothing untoward.

“You checking on me twice, boss?”  Henry chuckled.  “I may be old, but I ain’t shirking me job.”

Jake shook his head, “Nope, Henry, not checking on you, looking for young Joe.  He ain’t at his post.  How long ago did ya say ya heard him?”

Henry considered a moment.  “Musta bin about two hours back, just after you made your last rounds.  Maybe he rode in early.  He’s only a lad.”

“He knows better.  You don’t leave your post until your relief comes out, especially not with all the trouble we bin havin’…”  Jake’s whole manner changed.  “You hear anything else, cattle being moved maybe?”

Henry shook his head.  “We ain’t had rustlers if that’s what ya mean.  I’da heard someone cuttin’ cattle.  These babies don’t go quietly.  You think maybe they tried and Joe’s out there somewhere, hurt?”

“I dunno Henry.  You keep watch here until your relief comes.  I’ll go take another look.”

Jake rode back along the way he had come, but this time he was searching the ground.  It was hard to see any new tracks in the gray morning light.  With over a thousand head of cattle and the drovers, there were just too many hoof prints.  He came to the spot where Joe should have been and dismounted.  He walked away from the herd and began making a semicircle.  Yes, there it was, another horse, carrying a heavier load than Cochise and with larger hoof prints than the little pinto.  The horse had come in from the north and then both horses had left the same way.  There were no footprints, so neither rider had dismounted. He was about to mount up to follow the trail when Slim returned, with Hoss hot on his heels.

“He ain’t in camp,” Slim stated baldly.

Hoss noted Jake’s worried expression. “You found somethin’?”

“Tracks, two horses, both shod.  One of ‘em is Joe’s; I’d swear to it.  Heading north.”

People considered Hoss slow, but his mind was as sharp as anyone’s.  “Slim ride back to the camp and get all the men out: half on the herd and half to follow us, and send someone to tell my father.  I’d say someone has kidnapped Joe.  He wouldn’t have gone willingly, so it musta bin at gunpoint.”

Jake nodded, “Neither of ‘em dismounted.  The trail leads north up the valley.”

“Toward Virginia City?”  Hoss asked.

“Mebbe, but it’s more likely they’d take him into the mountains, harder to track that way.”  Jake had re-mounted.  “They got maybe two hours on us, and it’s getting light. so they’ll be riding fast or hiding out.”

“C’mon, let’s get started.”  Hoss was worried and frightened for his young brother.

 

Ben decided to take his first morning coffee out on to the porch.  The sun was already warm, and it was always wise to enjoy the last sunny days of summer before the long winter set in.  He opened the front door and stopped in amazement.  Little Joe’s blue jacket was fixed to the porch step with a wicked looking knife, and between knife handle and jacket, there was a note. He grabbed at the knife and released jacket and note.  His heart went cold at the stark black printing.

 

If you want to see your son alive again, you know which way to vote.

 

The vote was tomorrow.  That left him twenty-four hours to find Little Joe and rescue him.  But how had he been kidnapped?  He was safe with Hoss and the herd.  Over thirty men would be around him all day and night.  How could anyone get to him?  Pushing such thoughts and all the emotions that bubbled up to one side, he made for the bunkhouse.  Time was too short to waste wondering how.  He gave a perfunctory knock and pushed open the bunkhouse door.  There were only five men here today.  The rest were either with the herd or with the logging crew.   The men were in various stages of dressing, and all looked up with surprise.  The boss rarely bothered them before work started.  Ezra, the most senior of the men, checked his pocket watch.  Were they late or something?

Ben saw his action and held up an apologetic hand.  “Sorry to interrupt you fellas this early, but something has come up.”  He drew in a deep breath, “It looks like Little Joe has been kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped!” several voices exclaimed at once.

“What you want us to do, Boss?”  Ezra was the first to recover.

Ben looked at each of the men; they were all old hands and he trusted them.  “Two of you ride up to the logging camp and let Adam know.  He’ll no doubt send some men down to help.  Tell him to meet me at the Franktown camp as soon as he can, but he’s not to ride alone.  Make sure he understands that.  I don’t want anyone alone right now.  Charley you come with me, and we’ll ride out to the herd now.  Two of you will have to handle the chores here and let us know if there are any more messages.  I’ll send some hands back to help as soon as I can.”

“You don’t worry about the chores; Boss, me and Will can deal with that.  You just find the young ‘un.  You know who’s got him?”  Ezra asked.

“I can only guess that it’s Kenney or one of his henchmen, but he could be anywhere.  I’ll know more when I talk to Hoss.”

It took less than ten minutes for Charley to have the horses saddled.  They were away without food.  Their only concern was Little Joe.

 

“It’s not your fault, Hoss.”  Ben tried to reassure his son.  “Joe was within a few hundred yards of Slim and Henry, and they heard nothing.  Whoever took him must have held him at gunpoint to keep him quiet.”

“We’ve tracked back as far as we could, Pa.  The trail disappears around the north end of Washoe.  I got men out looking, but I figured I should be here for when Slim got back with you.”

Ben nodded. “We saved some time by meeting him halfway.  There must have been two of them.  One person couldn’t have delivered the note and got Joe away.  If Joe had been with the rider at the ranch, he would have risked calling out.”  Ben stayed quiet for a moment, thinking…  “North of Washoe doesn’t give us much to go on.  They could have headed into Virginia City or north to Reno or into the mountains.”

Hoss pondered his father’s words for a moment. “It’d have been daylight by the time they got to Virginia City.  They’d not risk that, and the mountains ‘ud be too far away from Kenney to get messages back and forth.  I reckon they got him hid somewhere outside the town.  There’s them old mine workings all along the valley – maybe in one o’ them.”

“You mean Washoe Diggings?”  Ben queried.  His mind raced over the possibilities.

“Tracks was heading that way when we lost ‘em, and they’d need to get Joe under cover ‘afore daylight.  Cochise is too darn recognisable.  One of ‘em could watch Joe, and the other could report to Kenney in town.  It ain’t far over the mountain.”  Hoss had pretty much made up his mind.

“I just hope Joseph doesn’t try to overpower his guard. If there is only one he might be tempted.” A new worry had entered Ben’s head, and it wouldn’t shake loose.  “I sure wish I knew who has been telling Kenney our every move.”

 

All morning Ben, Hoss and the ranch hands searched old mine workings.  Carefully checking for signs first, they delved into the mines, but many of the old workings were just a few feet into the mountains and not big enough to hide a man and his horse.  When they came upon larger openings, they explored every drift and even pulled away small rock falls.  It was past midday by the time Adam found them, and there was still nothing.

“Maybe we are going at this the wrong way,” Adam suggested, as they stopped for a break and some water.

“What d’you mean?”  Ben asked.

“Well, Joe might not be here.  He could be miles away by now.  Perhaps we should go into town and try to work out Kenney’s movements, have him and Clifford watched.  Ask around; see who they have been talking to, especially if any of those people are no longer in town.  It might give us clues.”

“Kenney ain’t gonna be stupid enough to be seen with whoever he’s paying to do this,” Hoss said scornfully.  “He’s gonna make sure he’s clean.”

“We’re getting nowhere fast looking around here.  You’ve covered less than half the diggings and it’s past noon.  You can’t search after dark, and the vote is tomorrow morning,” Adam responded, his anger beginning to show.

“And it’s not helping having you two at each other’s throats.”  Ben came between his sons and glared at them.

The argument was stopped by the arrival of some surprise visitors.  “Howdy, Mr. Cartwright, Adam, Hoss…”  Rick Bonner swung down from his bay mare and nodded to each of them.  “Word’s out in town that Little Joe’s been kidnapped.  Thought you might need a bit of help searching,” he indicated his brother Jeff and half a dozen less than salubrious characters who often acted as drovers for him.

“I’m surprised you aren’t working with Clifford to run off my herd while we’re looking,” Ben snapped.

Rick grinned, “No offense taken, Mr. Cartwright.  I might well a bin, if he’d offered enough money, but like I told Adam a while back, I don’t aim to end up on the end of his gun.  We bin friends too long.”

Adam glanced at his father, “C’mon, Pa, every pair of eyes is useful.”

“Might be more’n that,” Rick drawled.  “That girl who took over the Hammond place, she’s been seen in town a time or two chatting to that banker Kempster, and he’s a real good friend of Kenney’s.  Might be they took the boy out to her place.”

Adam held up a hand to stop Hoss, who, by his expression, was headed for Rick with the intention of ringing his neck.  “You know that for fact?”

Rick nodded. “I seen her with my own two eyes a couple of times with Kempster, right chatty they were.”

Adam moved closer to his father. “It makes sense, Pa.  If Miss Hammond is working with Kenney, then she can switch votes at the last minute.  But he still needs you to abstain or vote with him to get a majority; otherwise it’s a stalemate.”

Hoss was barely containing his anger. “Why’d she do that after she came in and acted all friendly like?”

Adam sighed. “Like I said, Kenney still needs Pa’s vote.  If he wasn’t sure of Kit Hammond’s, then securing Pa’s would still not be enough.  Maybe she’s already been bought out and was told to lull us into a false sense of security.  Or maybe she had to get close to one of us.”  He directed his gaze at Hoss. “She got information; she knew our movements almost before we did.  Kenney needed that.  And you gotta see that she’s British, and the British need cotton.  With the Comstock in his hands, Kenney has the money to help the South deliver that.”

Ben raised his eyebrows. “You still think this conspiracy theory holds water?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then why did she tell us about Kenney’s connections?  Why not keep quiet and let us think it was just a local range war?” Ben argued.

Adam shook his head. “To gain our confidence, or because she knew we could find out for ourselves, and then she’d be implicated.  I don’t know.”

Hoss roused himself for another bout. “Huh, somethin’ our big brother don’t know for once.  I’m tellin’ ya, Miss Kit ain’t got nuthin’ to do with this.”

Rick watched the argument with detachment. “I say, whoever it is, we ain’t helpin’ Little Joe much by standin’ around here.  My fellas are gonna start searching up around Orleans Hill.  There’s plenty of mine shafts that could hide an army up there: all of ‘em on Hammond land.  Weren’t it one o’them where they found old Chad’s body?”

Hoss picked up Chubby’s reins. “Well, I’m gonna ride over to Miss Kit’s and see what she’s got to say.”

Rick sniffed. “Then you’d better ride into town.  She was at the Mercantile when we rode by.  Maybe she’s even headed for the bank and Kenney by now.”

“Pa, you keep searching.  I’ll go into town and have words with Miss Hammond.”  Adam’s expression was hard and uncompromising.

“I’m comin’ with you.”  Hoss was mounted before Adam had even picked up Sport’s reins.

“Boys, just remember it is Little Joe’s life we are gambling with.  Arguing amongst ourselves won’t help.”  His words were lost to his sons as they galloped away.

Rick shrugged. “We’ll find him, Mr. Cartwright.  Me and the boys knows all the best hideouts, hereabouts.”  He grinned at Ben’s raised eyebrows.

 

Kit had finished her marketing, and Will Cass had loaded her buckboard.  She had one more stop to make before heading home.  She nodded to one or two acquaintances as she made her way down to Mr. Kempster’s office.  The man might not be the best investment advisor, but apart from the bank, there was no one else in this benighted city who could tell her what she wanted to know.

Her business finished, she was just coming out of Kempster’s office when two of the Cartwrights rode up to the sidewalk just in front of her.  They dismounted and came quickly to her side.

“I heard about Little Joe.  The sheriff is turning the town upside down and asking all over but no clues yet. Have you any idea who took him and where?” she asked.

“You’d know more than we do,” Adam replied.

Hoss stood to her right, and she glanced up at him first. “Is there something I’m missing here?”

Hoss looked embarrassed. He had been so sure that she was innocent, but here she was coming out of Kempster’s office just as Rick had suggested.  Kempster was linked to Kenney.  It was all so complicated, and Hoss was a straightforward man.  He was seldom devious and never saw it in others.

“Where’s our little brother?”  Adam demanded, grabbing her arm.

Kit twisted her hand backwards, broke his hold and then glared at him. “If you will stop manhandling me, I might be able to shed some light on it.”

“Ha, I knew it.  You’re in this up to your neck,”  Adam snarled.

“Must we make a scene in the street?  Kenney maybe watching, and we don’t want to show our hand, do we?”  Kit took Hoss’ arm and began to walk toward her buckboard.  “If you would care to help me up, Hoss?  Then perhaps we can ride out of town and discuss our business calmly away from prying eyes.”

Hoss glanced at Adam and shrugged before doing as Kit asked.

Adam brought up the horses and mounted Sport.  He might as well go along with it.  She could hardly make a run for it in a buckboard, and it was several miles along the road before there was anywhere that would work for an ambush.  She could not have known that they were going to come into town, so it was hardly likely that she had one set up in any event.

They had travelled just over a mile when Kit pulled the buckboard over and stopped.  “Now, gentlemen, perhaps you would do me the courtesy of listening before you decide that I am the villain.”

Adam and Hoss drew their horses alongside and waited.

“I was visiting Mr. Kempster to find out about some investments.  I used my feminine charm, if you will, to find out what might be a good investment on the Comstock by asking where Mr. Kenney is putting his money.  It didn’t take much to get Mr. Kempster to betray a confidence.  He is a most inept banker.  I’m surprised he has managed to hold down a job for more than a few months.  Kenney is expecting to win the vote tomorrow, and he is investing heavily based on that supposition.  If he wins, he has all the power to bankrupt many of the smaller ranchers and, of course, the Ponderosa. With that accomplished, he holds all the beef and all the timber and can command the silver of the Comstock.”  She threw them a triumphant look. “With that silver he plans to assist the Confederacy.  I was right about our Mr. Kenney’s allegiances.”

“A good story, but how do we know you aren’t involved?  The raid on our lumber camp was planned for when we were weakest.  You knew that.  You knew Joe was riding night herd.”  Adam glared at Hoss.  “In fact you knew where and when to hit us every time.”

“Mr. Kempster knew about your lack of hands at the camp,” she replied, coldly.

“But he didn’t know about the night herders,” Adam snapped back at her. “Hoss told you that he planned to let Joe ride night herd for the first time.  No one but you knew that.”

Hoss closed his eyes as he realised that Adam had hit on the truth.  He had told Kit, and no one else had known until he assigned the task.  She had to be the one behind Joe’s kidnapping.

Kit had listened to their arguments, and this was one she had puzzled over herself. Who else knew that Joe was riding night herd except Hoss and herself?  She nodded, “I wondered that too.  I knew Hoss hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else.  It’s funny how we take people for granted.  Some people are always around, and so you never think of them as party to a conversation.”

Adam kept his eyes on Kit. “Just who are you referring to?”

She looked up at him, her eyes sad. “I trusted him, because my uncle had.  When I left this morning two of my hands were missing: a new man that we only hired a week ago and my foreman, Steve.”  She sighed.  “Steve was on the porch when Hoss and I were talking.  He has been there every time one of you has been at the ranch.  Steve knew your plans just as I did.”

Adam considered her point. “I’ve known Steve a good many years.  He’s always been loyal to the Hammond ranch.  Why would he change now?”

Kit’s color rose, and her temper began to simmer.  “I don’t have all the answers, but I am telling you that he’s the man you are after.  It isn’t Kempster; he isn’t bright enough.  He’s just a pawn in Kenney’s plans being used to hide money and investments.  But I can tell you it sure as hell isn’t me.  Steve is the only other person who knew your plans unless, of course, you suspect one of your brothers or your foreman.”  She finished with a glare.

“Kenney still won’t have the votes even if Pa changes sides.  He needs another to change, and we figure that one is you,” Adam bit back.

“Wrong.  Once your father changes sides, the half-dozen small ranchers who are supporting him will swing over too.  I can’t stand alone, and they don’t know me well enough to give me the same support they give your father.  If Kenney can hold your brother for a few more hours then he has won.”

Hoss was more practical.  All these theories were fine, but they weren’t helping to find Little Joe.  “So, if we go with Steve as our man, where is he hiding?”

Kit shrugged, “You know the area better than I do.  He said he was working around the area that borders an old stagecoach road.  Said he needed to check that Clifford wasn’t rustling from us because that border was the nearest to town.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Rustling what, jack rabbits?  That piece of land is desert scrub.  Circle H has never run cattle up there, and there’s not a tree in sight.”

Hoss nodded, “But, like Rick said, there’s a lot of old mine workings around New Orleans Hill.”

Both brothers were back in the saddle in an instant.

“I’ll follow you with the buckboard,” she called after them.  At least it seemed they believed her now.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

 

Joe Cartwright was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, but he still glared at his abductor.  He swallowed the drink of water he had been offered.

“Ain’t nuthin’ personal, Joe,” his captor took back the canteen and screwed the cap on.  “I’m gonna have to gag ya.  There’s too many folk ride past here on the way to town.  If that damned girl hadn’t turned up, none of this would be necessary.”

“You mean killin’ Chad and Tom would have solved your problems,” Joe snarled.

“Tom was an accident, but a mighty convenient one for Kenney.  That’s when he hired me.  I need the money.  I want a spread of my own.  Got too damn tired of working for other folk for a pittance.  Then that stupid English girl comes out here – just playin’ at ranching.  She’s got some dumb notion that she’s gonna stay, and she don’t scare easy.  Almost got Adam killed with her nonsense.  If she’d just sold out to Clifford, it’d all be over and none the wiser.”

“So you killed Chad,” Joe breathed.  He knew now how far this man would go.  Would he kill him too, if Pa didn’t do what he wanted?  Or maybe he’d kill him, anyway.  Joe knew he was the only one who could identify him and link him to Kenney and Clifford.

“Nah, that was Clifford, I didn’t know about it until it were done.”

Joe sighed, at least Steve hadn’t turned killer yet.  He could continue his thoughts, but not speak them, as a neckerchief was shoved into his mouth and tied tight.

As the hot day wore on, there was no loosening of his ropes and only brief respites in the gag to give him water.  Joe tried to guess at the passing of time.  He knew the vote on the drive was the next day, but just how long would Kenney allow him to stay alive.  If Pa changed his vote, Kenney would have the money to buy out the Circle H and the small ranches from the proceeds of the drive, and with them gone, he could bankrupt the Ponderosa.

Joe’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two men; one Joe only knew vaguely as a ranch hand at the Circle H, the other was much more familiar.

“I done left the note for his Pa,” the ranch hand indicated Joe with his thumb.  “Told Kenney, and he says to keep him here until mornin’.  Then he’ll decide what to do with him.  Vote’s at ten, so we’ll know what the old man decides by eleven.”  He picked up the canteen and took a swig of water.  “You reckon you’re worth all the land your old man’s got?” he laughed.

“Kenney reckons he is,” Steve said.  “So once the votes over, we let him go and get out of here.”

The second new arrival grinned, “You don’t really think we’re gonna let him go, do you?  He knows who we are, knows we was involved with Hammond’s little accident and knows Kenney is in on this.  We plan to kill him.  We’re only keepin’ him alive in case the old man wants proof he’s livin’ before he votes.”

Joe swallowed the lump that came to his throat, but it didn’t make him feel any better.  He knew Pa and his brothers would be looking for him, but there was an awful lot of land to search, and time wasn’t on their side.  His impulse was to try to run, but just how far would he get, even supposing he could loosen the ropes on his hands and feet.  His thoughts turned to his brothers.  Hoss would have missed him at first light when the night guard changed.  He was a good tracker, Joe thought with pride.  Then his spirits fell again, knowing how hard it would be to track them over rock and scrub.  Would Hoss have sent for Adam, or would just Pa know from the note.  His oldest brother wouldn’t let him die; he’d think of something.  Adam always knew what to do.  Maybe he should try to think of what Adam would do in this situation.  What if his older brother was the hostage?  He was sure of one thing, Adam would have thought it through and would do nothing on impulse.  He’d have a plan before he made his move.

Joe watched the two men for an hour or more.  Steve was nervous and edgy, wanting this to be over.  The ranch hand, who he now knew from their conversations was called Lem, was a drifter.  He neither knew nor cared what this was about as long as he got paid.  It was the third man who was ready to kill and would think nothing of it.  Joe waited until Lem and the other man wandered to the front of the cave and then signalled to Steve that he needed a drink.  Once the gag was removed he took a long swallow of water, then asked if he could move about a bit as he was stiff.

Steve glanced nervously toward the mine entrance.  “I dunno, Joe.  I ain’t supposed to untie ya.”

“I can’t go far with my hands tied and with them two right there can I?”  Joe pointed at the men now standing in the mine entrance and looking out over the valley.  “I’ll walk back into the mine just for a few yards.  It’s real painful sitting like this.”

Steve considered this for a minute.  Joe held his breath.  “Alright, but just a few steps and only into the mine.”

Joe nodded.

Steve untied his feet and helped him to stand.  Then he moved back and drew his pistol, aiming it at Joe’s middle.

Joe stamped his feet a few times and then walked slowly back into the mine.  There were several tunnels, and Joe could feel air coming through from a vent somewhere farther in.  He surveyed the roof above him.  He was pleased that Adam’s teachings about old mine working came back to him.  He could identify the main supports which held up the rock and the smaller ones which were used to keep smaller stones and earth in place.  Just where he stood, there was a major support where two tunnels joined the main shaft.  To his left was a storage area, and it was from here that he could feel the stream of air from the vent.  He walked a couple of paces into the storage area and looked up at the beams.  There was one main beam across the entrance and several smaller ones keeping the roof of the storage area in place.  Between them was an upright that held the whole thing together.  He swallowed hard and prayed that Adam’s engineering was as good as he boasted it was and that he had remembered what his brother had tried to teach him about mine supports.  Theoretically, he mused, if he hit that upright from this side with enough force, it would bring down the ceiling between the storage area and the mine entrance.  He would be inside the storage area with air to breath, and his captors would have to dig through a rock fall to get at him.  Hopefully, the fall would be loud enough and big enough to startle the horses.  They were near the tunnel entrance tethered in some trees and scrub to hide them.  He hoped they would run at the sound, and maybe any searchers would find them and backtrack.  Then if he could find the vent, it might be possible for him to shout or maybe even find a way out.  He knew it was a long shot.  So much could go wrong.  The whole mine could cave in and bury him.  Steve could get off a shot before the earth fell in sufficiently to obscure him. The fall might not be high enough to cover the tunnel and they would be able to get to him.  But right now it seemed his only chance.

He half turned to check on where his abductors were standing, and then using all of his strength, he slammed into the upright as low down as he could manage.  The upright shifted along the floor and dislodged itself from the beam above, but it did not fall.  Earth and stones rained down around him.  Steve discharged his pistol in shock, but the bullet went wide and into the rock to Joe’s right.  Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion and the mine caved in.

 

Rick Bonner led the search party through two abandoned mine shafts and an old prospector’s hut all to no avail.  He held back a little as they approached the road up to Geiger Grade.

“There’s a dozen old mine shafts into the hill from this side, Mr. Cartwright, but only a couple are big enough to hide men and horses.”

“You think they have the horses in the shaft with them?”  Ben’s voice was higher pitched than usual, “Those shafts aren’t high enough allow a horse to stand.”

Rick hooked one leg over his saddle horn, “There’s a couple as was dug out from caves.  The openings are wider and higher, and then the shaft is started inside the cave,” he explained.  Then with an apologetic grin. “You could hide a dozen steers in there with no problem”

“And you would know,” Jake Webber said sourly.

Rick acknowledged the old man’s statement with another grin.  “I toldya I knew the best hideouts.  There’s one just below the ridge there and another hidden behind those trees.”  He pointed east to where a few straggly pinon and aspen trees sprouted from manzanita and sagebrush on the hillside.

Ben looked up at the hill just as two horses appeared on the skyline above where Rick was pointing.  Adam and Hoss coming back from town, Ben identified them.  They must have spotted the search party as they were now heading down the slope at as fast a pace as the ground would allow.

Suddenly the earth shook, and the riders disappeared in a haze of debris and smoke as the whole hillside seemed to slide downwards.

The search party kicked their mounts into a gallop and headed for the base of the hill.  Slowly, as the air cleared, it was possible to see that the trees had gone along with a considerable amount of rock and earth.  Ben wanted to go forward but Rick had grabbed Buck’s reins and was holding him back. “That was a mighty big explosion, Mr.Cartwright, there might be others.”

Out of the haze, they saw Chub and Sport racing north, neither horse seemed injured, but they had no riders now.  The group below peered into the settling dust and Rick inched slowly forward, still keeping a hand on Ben’s mount.  “There they are,” he pointed at two figures staggering down what remained of the slope.  Adam and Hoss now looked more like miners than ranchers.

Ben shook off Rick’s grasped and headed for his two sons, dismounting almost at the run.  Anyone seeing it would have been amazed at his agility.  “Are you alright?” he yelled as soon as he was within hearing distance.

Both men shook their heads, but it wasn’t a negative response to his question, because they hadn’t heard it.  Both were, temporarily at least, deaf.

“Wow, look at that.” Jeff Bonner pointed at what had once been a mountain slope with trees but was now a landslide of rock debris some five hundred yards from where they stood.

Rick was looking at something else.  His face showed horror and incredulity.  “I think we might have found ‘em.”  His hand pointed in the direction of the valley and three horses running for their lives.  “Ain’t that the kid’s horse?”

Ben turned from examining an injury to Adam’s arm to see the distinctive pinto disappearing toward Washoe Lake with two bays not far behind.

“If they’re under that, then we ain’t gone find much,” one of the rougher men in Rick’s group said with feeling.

Adam and Hoss were already scrambling up the fallen rock to the site of the explosion.  Ben wasn’t far behind.

“Used to be a cave and the Jumbo mine,” Adam observed.  “Not much left now. The explosion’s brought down the overhang; it must have been fairly close to the entrance to do that.”  He turned to his father.  “We thought we heard a gunshot just before the explosion.  If we did, then it was probably that which set off an old charge left in the mine.”  He shook his head as if to clear it.  His hearing was still not good, but at least it seemed to be coming back.

Ben was on his hands and knees tearing at the rock.

“Pa, we ain’t gonna find him that way.” Hoss was all sympathy.  “You’ll just bring more down.”

“The horses must have been either right at the entrance or tethered in the trees.  They got away because the echo of the gunshot scared them before the charge went up.”  Adam was looking up the slope.  “Depends how far in the kidnappers and Joe were and which way the gunman fired.”

Rick nodded, “You reckon Joe was tryin’ to escape and they shot at him and missed and hit some gunpowder?”

Adam shrugged. “It’s as likely as anything else.  But that would put Joe nearest the entrance.”  He glanced at his father. It was no good telling Pa that there was no hope. If Joe had been running for the entrance, he was almost certainly dead.

Rick was lying full length on the slope now and tapping with a rock on the rocks nearest to what had been the mine.  “Everyone keep quiet,” he said.

For several minutes they all waited, each one holding their breath, but despite repeated attempts, there was no answering sound.

 

Away above them on the road from Virginia City, Kit had heard the explosion, too.  She drove the buckboard off the road and climbed down to peer over the edge.  Below her in the distance was the magnificent vista of Pleasant Valley and Washoe Lake, but her eyes were fixed on the billowing dust cloud much nearer.  As the dust began to settle she could see horses and riders and the distinctive outline of Hoss Cartwright.  She hesitated for only a few seconds before searching for a way down.  There, a few hundred yards further along, was a gentler slope.  It was strewn with rocks and boulders, but still it was a possibility.  She climbed back on to the buckboard and slowly drove the horses to the opening in the embankment.  Both horses seemed nervous of the idea, but she was determined.  Slowly, yard by yard, she navigated the rig around the bigger boulders and, once or twice, even jumped down to lead the horses.

Below her the search party seemed intent on digging, and with the noise of rocks being moved, no one was aware of her approach.  She was less than 200 yards from them when she had to stop and lead the horses.  She walked to their head and talked softly to them.  Suddenly she was aware of another sound.  Someone shouting!

She knelt down and tried to work out where the sound had come from, not from those working frantically to clear the rubble from the explosion, of that she was sure.  There it was again, to her left and down a little.  She inched forward, all the time listening.  Now she seemed to be almost on top of whoever was shouting.  She knelt again.  “Where are you?”

“Down here.”  The disembodied voice shouted.

Suddenly her foot slide from under her, as big tuft of grass came loose and disappeared down a hole; her boot almost followed.

Below her, Joe tried to move aside as a clod of earth narrowly missed his head.  He was lying almost under the vent, but his ankle was trapped by a wooden box which had been blown into the storeroom when the blast went off.

“Is there someone there?”  Kit shouted again.

“Yes, yes, I’m trapped by my foot in a sort of storage area,” Joe yelled back.

“I’ll get help,” she answered, and suiting actions to words, she took off running the 200 yards down to where the rescuers were digging.

So intent were they on the work that no one looked up until she was almost upon them.

Adam moved back from the earth pile to let Hoss take another go.  As he did so, he saw Kit flying down the hill: her hair loose and blowing in the wind and her dress billowing about her as she ran.  He took a few steps toward her and caught her in his arms.

“Joe is under there,” she almost screamed at him.  “He’s trapped in a shaft.”

Adam held her away from him and gripped her shoulders, “We know, that’s why we are digging, a charge went off.”

“No, no,” she gasped, breathlessly. “I mean I heard him up on the hill.  There’s some sort of hole down to him.”

“A vent!”  Adam’s eyes were wild with a hope which had not been there before.  He knew that no one could have survived if they were under the rubble they were trying to move, but Pa wouldn’t stop.

“Pa,” he yelled. “We can get to him by the air vent.  Kit found it, and she heard him.”

Ben swung around, almost slicing through Jeff’s leg with the small shovel he had been using.  “What!  Where?”

Kit led what amounted to a charge up the hillside until she came to the spot where she had heard Joe’s voice.  “There,” she pointed.

Ben was on the ground in an instant calling to his youngest son.

“I’m okay, Pa.  I just can’t move.  There’s a heavy box on my ankle, and it’s wedged in by rock,” Joe called back.

“Hold on, son, we’ll soon have you out of there.”  Ben looked up at his oldest son, who was still looking very concerned.

“It’s not that easy,” Adam spoke softly, so that his voice wouldn’t carry below ground, and he moved away from the vent.  “We don’t know how much damage that blast did to this area.  It’s mainly loose earth with not much bedrock.  If we start digging here we could bring the whole lot down on Joe.  We need to go slowly.  He’s got air, so there’s no rush.  It’s got to be done right.”  He glanced up at the sky. “It’ll be dark in a few hours. Someone needs to go for lanterns and more picks and shovels.  The stuff we found here and the small ones we carry aren’t enough to dig down maybe twenty feet.”

Ben nodded, accepting the wisdom of these words.  “Alright, son, you direct operations, and we’ll all do as you say.”

While Adam was relieved that his father wasn’t going to act hastily, he was nervous at the responsibility he now carried.  What if he got it wrong and buried his young brother alive?  Everyone was waiting on his orders.  He took a deep breath, and then as he formulated his plan, he issued his orders.  Two men were despatched to the ranch for lanterns, more shovels and picks and supplies of fresh water and food to keep everyone going if it took a long time to extricate Joe from the mine.  Adam was already pretty sure that Joe was the only one alive down there.

Adam called down to his brother and ascertained as much information as he could about how far the vent was from the entrance and in which direction.  The measurements couldn’t be accurate, but they would give him a guide.  He then paced out and area that ought to be the storage cave and moved back another yard or so.  This he hoped would give Joe a chance if the first diggers encountered soft earth or loose gravel.  He took from his saddle bags a length of twine and, tying it to a stone, dropped it down the vent, instructing Joe to shout if he could see it in the dim light of the cave.  Joe peered into the darkness but no stone appeared.  Then he heard a soft plop as something hit the ground.  Up above the string went slack, and Adam guessed he had hit an obstruction.  When he pulled the twine back up, he was relieved to find that the depth was less than he had expected: only some ten feet or so.  He had to hope that the obstruction had been the floor of the cave and not just a rock lodged in the vent..

“Rick can you and Jeff work either side of the vent, clear the earth away slowly, no sudden movements, and if it starts to collapse, stop straightaway.”

Rick nodded, “Sure thing, boss.”

Hoss immediately pushed forward. “Why not me, I can dig faster than these fellas?”

Adam caught his brother’s arm. “I know, Hoss, but we don’t need speed; we need patience.  And once we start to loosen the crust, you’re just too darned heavy to be working over his head.”  Seeing his brother’s disappointment and concern, he reached out and patted him on the shoulder with his free hand.  “I want you and Pa and some of the others to work in shifts until we get more tools.  If you start about here,” he indicated a spot down the hill and to the right, “and dig into the hill, you should connect up with the cave eventually.  It’ll be slower than the vent, but if the worst happens and the vent collapses, we may need to get to him from another angle and quickly, so the sooner we start and the faster we work on that tunnel the better.”

Adam set his teams to work and then went back to the vent and called down to his brother.  “Hang on, Joe, we’re gonna get you out soon.  Let me know if more than a few stones rattle down near you, and we’ll stop and re-assess.  You’re only about ten or twelve feet down, just got to widened the vent to let one of us come down to you.”

Joe felt a strong sense of relief.  He had great faith in his older brother, and knew that if it could be done, Adam would know how to do it.  “Sure, Adam, I’m fine.”

Widening the vent went slowly.  Several times they had to stop because the earth was loose and fell into the void below, spraying Joe with earth and small stones.  The tunnel into the side of the hill went quicker, but they had some fifty feet to cover and were meeting rock as well as the easier loose earth.  The further they went the more they realised that a tunnel was impossible, the loose earth fell in as soon as they dug under it. They either had to dig out all the earth and make a passage way, which was slow, or use blasting powder.  The latter was simply not an option if they wanted Joe out alive.

As the light began to fade, the lanterns arrived and along with them more hands and more tools.  The work could move faster now.  About an hour after sunset the vent was wide enough for a man.  Adam began to tie a rope to his waist.

“Jeff’s thinner than you,” Rick caught his friend’s arm.

Adam nodded, “I know that, but it’s my brother down there.”  He lowered his voice and glanced at Ben who was still working on the other dig.  “It might all collapse if we hit the sides too hard.  I’ll not risk anyone but me, understood.”

Rick smiled, “I know how ya feel; I’d be same if it was my kid brother down there.”

When Ben realised what was happening, he and Hoss both dropped shovels and toiled up the hill to the vent.  Everyone was tired and edgy, and Ben pushed others roughly aside to get to where Adam had just disappeared from view.

“Why didn’t one of you go down, Adam’s needed up here?”  Ben swung around to Rick and Jeff.

“You said he was the boss, and he insisted,” Rick said laconically.  “When Adam says he’s gonna do somethin’, he generally means it, and I ain’t about to argue.”

“Especially when it’s dangerous,” Ben snapped back.

“Well, there’s that to,” Rick acknowledged with a grin.

Hoss took the rope from Jeff’s hands.  “You won’t be able to hold on to him when it takes his weight and he needs haulin’ up.  He’s my brother, it’s my job.”

Rick put a hand on Jeff’s shoulder. “That’s pretty much what Adam said when Jeff offered to go down the hole.”

Hoss hardly heard him, but Ben had the grace to nod an apology.

Adam tried to avoid hitting the sides too hard, but it was a tight squeeze, and the sharp stones and rocks tore at his clothes and skin.  As his feet connected with the last bit of earth, he yelled to Joe to cover his eyes, and a moment later he slid down into the mine.

Joe had never been so relieved to see anyone, and as Adam knelt beside him and lifted the box that was trapping his ankle there were tears in his eyes.  Once Joe’s hands were also freed, Adam gave his brother a hug, and he was surprised at the fierceness with which it was returned.

“It’s okay, Joe.  We’ll soon have you up into the fresh air.”  He glanced at the rock pile which had come within a foot of killing his little brother.  “Steve under that?”

Joe nodded, then looked at his brother in amazement. “You know it was Steve?”

“Yeah, we blamed Kit, but as she told us.  Steve was there every time any information was shared.”  He put an arm around Joe’s shoulder for a minute.  You okay to go up now.”

Joe nodded then smiled at his brother, grateful that Adam had given him time to recover.  He didn’t want the hands to see he had been crying, and Adam knew it and had given him a few moments to compose himself.  “Sure.”

Adam fastened the rope around Joe and yelled up to Hoss, “Haul away, Hoss.  He’s fine.”  He grinned at Joe, “Now, you make sure that you send that rope back down for your older brother, or you’ll be doing my chores.”

 

Two hours later, Joe was tucked up in bed being fussed over by Hop Sing. The older Cartwrights, along with the Bonners, were seated around the fire at the Ponderosa.

“Pa, you ought to get some sleep.  The vote is at ten-thirty,” Adam suggested.

“I’ll rest when we have worked out a plan.” Ben replied.  “Kenney must know by now that Joe is back with us.  He won’t let that be the end of it.  He can’t lose this one or he is finished on the Comstock, and if Kit is right, his backers won’t be too pleased with him.  They need the silver.”

Rick leaned back in his chair.  It wasn’t every day that a Bonner got to sit with the Cartwrights, and he was making the most of the home comforts and the excellent brandy.  “Come daylight, Jeff and me’ll ride into town and do some checkin’.  We knows who to ask and where to look.  Then one of us’ll keep watch and the other’ll ride back and let you know what we’ve found out.

Ben turned slightly in his chair. “Thank you; that would be helpful.”

Rick chuckled. “It’s okay, Mr. Cartwright, we don’t expect you to be beholden to us.  Come next week, we’ll be the same hard drinking troublemakers, and you’ll be tellin’ Adam to avoid us ag’in, like always.”

Adam gave Rick a tired smile. “Leopard can’t change his spots, huh, Rick.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.  I bin thinkin’ of findin’ me a little place and settlin’ down.  Maybe run cattle or somethin’.”

Adam roared with laughter. “Your own, or someone else’s.”

“Well, man’s gotta get a start somewhere.”

Ben shook his head, but he was smiling, “You promise me you’ll leave my herd alone, and I might even grubstake you to a piece of land after this is all over.”

“Then you leave Clifford to me.  You handle the business end with Kenney, and I’ll see that Clifford don’t give ya no trouble,” Rick stated firmly.

Ben and Adam exchanged a slightly worried glance but made no comment.

 

As good as his word, Rick was away at first light accompanied by his brother.  The Cartwrights worked their way through the morning chores and then discussed the day over breakfast.

“Joe, I want you to stay here with Hoss.  Neither of you is to leave the yard until we get back,” Ben ordered.

“But, Pa…” both boys protested.

“There’s plenty of work to keep you occupied here and plenty of hands around.  I don’t think Kenney will try anything at the house, but you never know

“What about the herd?”  Hoss asked, “I should be up there.”

“Jose can manage without you for one day, and I’ve sent two men up to give him my orders,” Ben replied, as he finished off his egg and reached for more coffee.

“Which are?”  Adam queried, one eyebrow raised.  Pa hadn’t mentioned any new orders to him.

“To do nothing.  If Clifford or any of his men try to run off the herd, he is to avoid confrontation, even if it means losing steers.  I’ll not have anyone else die over this.”

Adam almost choked on his coffee. “Does that apply to Jake and the cutting crew?”

“Yes, it does.  Mike and Shorty rode up there last night with those instructions.”

Adam drew in a deep breath and tried to control his temper. “And what do I do, sit around here while the whole business falls down around our ears?”  The sarcasm dripped from Adam’s mouth.

Ben slammed down his cup, almost shattering it, “You do as you’re told, and you avoid using that tone of voice with me.  If Kenney wins the vote, then he’ll have no need to raid us, and if he loses, then he’ll need to re-think his strategy and so will we.  “I’ll not risk another life until we know which way the vote goes.”

Adam got to his feet. “If Kenney wins the vote, then we might as well give him the cattle, because they sure won’t be worth anything.  And if we allow him to walk all over us, then I guess I should be asking him what to do, because he’ll be my boss.  There’ll be no Ponderosa.  Twenty years we’ve worked and fought to build this ranch and to keep it, and now your plan is to leave it wide open to Kenney.”  Adam turned and stomped out of the front door.

Hoss and Joe both ducked their heads and concentrated on their breakfast.  They felt the same as their brother, but there was no sense in riling Pa any further.

Ben poured himself more coffee as he tried to calm his temper.  He knew how the boys felt; dammit, he felt the same, but the Ponderosa, precious as it was, wasn’t worth one hair on his sons’ heads.  Joe’s kidnapping and the thought of what could have happened to him were too fresh in his mind, and he’d not risk another son.  If he couldn’t allow his sons into the danger zone, then he’d not risk his ranch hands either.  That wouldn’t be fair.

 

An hour later, Rick Bonner found Adam at the back of the house chopping wood.  Rick could tell by the tempo of the axe that his friend was working off anger.  He’d known Adam for too long not to recognise the signs.  He remembered the fights they’d had as kids.  Rick had outweighed the slim youngster and had usually won.  Now Adam had filled out some and grown taller by several inches than his buddy.  Rick wouldn’t want to take him on in a fight now.  Fists, knives or guns, it wouldn’t matter.  Adam would win, and Rick was a pragmatist.

“You got enough wood there for two winters,” he spoke slowly and stood well back.

Adam swung around with the axe in his hand, “You know better’n to creep up on a man.”

“I weren’t creepin’.  You was just doin’ too much of that thinkin’ of yours,” Rick said lightly.

Adam relaxed and buried the head of the axe in the block, then leaned on the handle.  “You find out anything?”

“Some.  Kenney’s having breakfast at the International House, and he’s boasting that he’s got the vote already won.  Says Miss Hammond has come to her senses and is gonna go along with him and sell out to him.”

“Which we now know is untrue.”

Rick tipped his head on one side and grinned at his friend. “That’s if you believe her.  Mighty good lookin’ gal.  Ain’t you got a rope on her yet?”  He chuckled.  “Might have to give ya a few lessons.  You figure she’d go out with me?”

Adam stepped toward Rick, his temper rising again.  “Stay away from her.”

“Oh, so you do think you got rights on her then.”  Rick, held up his hands in submission.  “You wanna hear about Kenney, or you wanna fight over the girl?”

Adam stopped, “Well, get on with it.”

“Yes, sir!  Like I said, Kenney reckons he’s got it all sewn up tight.”

“Where’s Clifford?  He’s the one we need to watch if it doesn’t go Kenney’s way?”

Rick rubbed his chin as if thinking, “Now, that’s the funny thing.  No one ain’t seen him since yesterd’y mornin’.  He was at the livery early and rode out of town on his own, and he ain’t been seen since.”

“That’s kinda worrying.  Wonder what he’s up to.  You’d better go report to Pa. He’s getting ready to leave.  I’m not sure if he wants me to ride in with you.  But, like it or not, I’m going.”

Rick grinned. “Your temper have somethin’ to do with an argument with your old man?”

Adam raised an expressive eyebrow. “Something like that, yeah.  Look you report to Pa and I’ll go get washed and changed.”

 

Rick accepted the offer of a late breakfast from Hop Sing and pulled out a chair.  He then proceeded to relate the same facts to Ben as he had already told to Adam.  “I’ll follow you back to town and keep an eye out for Clifford,” he finished.

Joe had been trying to attract his father’s attention but had been waved to silence while Rick spoke.  Now he managed to get his news into the conversation.  “There’s no need to look for Clifford…” he began.

Adam came in from the wash house and interrupted his brother, “He’s the real problem, Joe.  He’s the one that will carry out Kenney’s less savoury orders.”

Joe shook his head vehemently. “That’s what I’m tryin’ to tell you.  Clifford’s dead.  Leastways he should be.  He was at the mine with Steve and the other hand Lem.  If you didn’t see him running when the mine exploded, then he must be under the rubble.”

“Are you sure, Joseph?”  Ben was on his feet and staring intently at his youngest son.

“Yes, sir.  He was there.  He came with Lem, and they were talking at the entrance when I ran from Steve.  Steve was holding the gun, and he fired, and then the whole thing caved in.  I thought it was ‘cos I pushed the pillar, but it musta bin an old charge left in the rock, like Adam said.”

Adam nodded, “The mine blew outward.  Anyone in the entrance would have been hit full force by the blast.  We were so worried about Joe, here, that we didn’t check for bodies.”

Ben looked sceptical. “We have to be sure.  If Clifford is dead, then his vote is lost; that makes it our victory.”

Adam shook his head. “If Kit Hammond is to be believed, it does.  But if she is on Kenney’s side, then it still only gives us a stalemate, and the smaller outfits will swing over to Kenney unless we have a clear majority.”

Hoss got to his feet. “I done toldya, she ain’t working for Kenney, but you’re too dadblame stubborn to listen.  I’ll send some men up to dig out the entrance of the mine and check for bodies then I’ll follow ya… I’ll tell ‘em to be careful, Pa,” he added before Ben could object.

Adam glared at his brother then turned back to Ben, “Pa, you need to be getting into town.  Don’t want to miss this vote after all this trouble.  Rick and I will ride with you.” Ben was given no chance to argue as Adam and Rick rose to their feet and headed for the door.

“What am I supposed to do then?”  Joe’s lower lip jutted out belligerently.

Adam turned and raised an eyebrow toward his father. “I’d say he’s safer with us than here on his own, Pa”

Joe wasn’t sure whether to applaud his brother for the suggestion or growl at him for saying he wasn’t capable of looking after himself.  He settled for what he fondly considered was a poker face.

Ben was too concerned to pay much heed to either son’s expression.  He picked up his hat and began strapping on his gunbelt.  “Well, come on then.  We don’t have all day.”

“Uh, yes sir, Pa.”  Joe reached for his own hat and was outside ahead of all of them.

 

Just before ten-thirty, the four Cartwrights were standing outside the Cattlemen’s Association.  Both Adam and Ben were members of the Cattlemen’s Association and could attend meetings, but the Ponderosa had only one vote.

“You want me to come in to the meeting, Pa?”  Adam queried.

Ben shook his head. “I think you’ll be more use keeping an eye on any of Kenney’s men who are in town… and watching out for your younger brother.”  He gave Joe a stern stare.

“Pa…”  Joe’s protest died on his lips as he saw how worried his father was.

“We’ll take a walk around town, see if we can find out anything about Clifford’s movements yesterday and meet you back here in an hour,” Adam said.  He quickly grabbed Joe’s arm and wheeled him around.

Just then Kit Hammond crossed from the other side of the street.  “Good morning,” she called out as she was half-way across.  Kenney knows that young Joe here is safe.  I saw him talking to the Sheriff earlier on.”

Joe bristled at the term ‘young’ but said nothing.

“I also met him coming out of the International House after breakfast.  He was most persuasive.  I told him he could have my vote, and that I’d sell to him if the price was right.  A poor little thing like me has no business ranching.  He said that if I made a deal with him, he’d see to it that cotton got through the blockade and back to my mills in Lancashire.  Must keep the family business afloat.”  Her eyes were hooded as she watched from under thick lashes to see Ben’s reaction.

Adam looked at Hoss with a triumphant gleam in his eye.

Hoss swallowed hard and reddened, but he kept his eyes averted from Kit.  How could she have done this to him?

Ben pursed his lips. “So Steve was working for you, and Kenney gets your vote?  Somewhere along the line you omitted to tell us that you owned cotton mills.”

Kit kept her expression blank. “I own them, but they are managed for me.  I know very little of who they deal with, but it’s always nice to know I can call on favors if I need them.  I like to play both sides and then go with a winner.  You should know by now, Mr. Cartwright, that one should never show one’s hand until the bets are called.”  She lifted the hem of her skirt as she stepped up on to the boardwalk and reached for the door of the Cattlemen’s Hall.

Ben sighed and shrugged. “I’ll see you boys in about an hour.”  He followed Kit into the building.  His shoulders drooped in defeat.

Adam turned on his heels and stared into the street.  “C’mon, Joe, let’s see if we can find any good news.  Pa’s sure gonna need it.”

Joe looked up at his older brother. “I’m sorry, Adam.  I didn’t believe you when you said she was gonna vote with Kenney.”

“That woman has more turns than a corkscrew,” Adam said, bitterly.

Hoss shook his big head.  “I cain’t believe it, even now.  Guess I won’t until I know for sure that she betrayed us.”

Adam inclined his head toward the spot they had just left. “Believe, brother, it just happened.”

 

Inside the Cattlemen’s Hall, ranchers milled around discussing the weather, their herds and other work related issues.  Kenney was glad-handing anyone who would vote with him and keeping tally.  He spotted Ben and pushed through the crowd to his side.  “Looks like it’s going my way, Cartwright.  I make it pretty even; rules say that if it’s a draw we have to have another vote tomorrow.  My boys will be able to persuade a few more to my side by then.”

Ben moved back a little as if being next to Kenney tainted him too.  “Persuade?  Kenney, don’t you mean blackmail, burn, and bully?  You’re darned lucky my son is alright.  If you had harmed him…”  he let his words hang in the air.

“You persuade ‘em your way and I’ll do it mine, but I’ll have the vote.  You got no proof I had anything to do with your son being kidnapped.  That was Clifford’s doing. I’ll put my price for beef where it will bankrupt all those who went against me, and that includes the Ponderosa.  You might as well vote with me now and save us the trouble of coming back tomorrow.”

Ben moved away and stood by the wall watching as the room divided into two factions.  His supporters all looked very jumpy, and he hoped that they would hold their nerve.  If just one wavered then it was all over.

Papers were passed around, and each person marked their sheet with a cross for either a Ponderosa led drive or a Kenney one.  Once all the papers were deposited in the box, the members were asked to leave, and two of Bank Manager Weems’ tellers counted and verified the result.  The figures were then handed to Mort Rumsen, the Association President for this year.

Mort was an old friend of Ben’s and was almost certain to have voted for the Ponderosa, so when Ben saw the amazed expression on his friend’s face he was sure the vote was lost.  With Clifford gone, it should have been a tie with the result depending on Kit Hammond.  She had obviously done as she said and changed sides, giving Kenney his majority.

“The drive will be managed by the Ponderosa Ranch.”  Mort announced.

There was some cheering and back slapping, and Ben was soon surrounded by his friends.  He glanced up and saw the black thunderous expression on Kenney’s face.

“I’ll get you somehow, Cartwright.”  Kenney cursed loudly and stormed out of the hall.

Ben was bemused.  He had been over the figures a hundred times.  The vote should have been to Kenney.  If Kit Hammond voted with him then there was no way he could have lost.  He turned to meet the smiling gaze of a triumphant Kit.

Adam had seen Kenney leave, and he and Joe were pushing their way through the celebrating ranchers to Ben’s side.

“I don’t understand.”  Ben was puzzled and still shocked.  “You were going to vote with Kenney, but even if you didn’t it would still have been a tie.”

Kit chuckled. “Men are so straightforward.  They never see the twists of life.  I told Kenney I was voting with him, made him believe it.  He thought, like you, that with my vote he had the one he needed to make up for Clifford, so he would still carry the day.”

Adam was not only bemused he was downright confused.  “Pa had 10 votes plus his own, making 11.  Kenney had 11 votes and his own and Clifford’s making 13.  With Clifford gone he had 12, then your vote would make it 13 again.  Even if you voted with Pa, it’s still a tie.”

Kit’s grin was wide and mocking, “Ah, but you are counting Matt Lawrence’s vote.”

“Yeah, Kenney bought the land and got that vote too.” Hoss joined in.

“I always say it pays to know the rules,” Kit replied.  “Kenney bought the land.  Membership of the Cattlemen’s Association is by subscription, and it runs for one year.  If you sell your land within that one year, the vote stays with the original landowner until the next subscription, which is due in January.  I voted as proxy for Chad because I was his heir.  Kenney is not Lawrence’s heir, so he can’t use that vote until Lawrence’s subscription expires.  Kenney lost by one vote.  I figured if he was sure of me, he wouldn’t go checking the rules too closely, and he didn’t.”

“But what about your cotton mills?”  Adam asked.

“My ex-fiancé is buying them from me.  I really don’t care whether he gets his cotton or not.  I think I’m going to adopt a new country.”

Ben was now laughing. “Remind me next time I need an ally to pick a woman.  Miss Hammond, you sure are a worthy partner.”  He softened his expression and took her hand. “Does this mean you are going to stay here in Nevada?”

Kit smiled, “That depends on many things,” she said, slowly, looking over at Hoss. “Not the least is whether I can find a new foreman to manage the place for me while I learn what it takes to be a rancher.  Will you forgive me for not being totally honest with you?  I didn’t know who to trust, and there could have been someone in your outfit working for Kenney.  As it turned out, it was Steve.”

Adam held out a hand to her. “I want to apologise for believing that you were the enemy.  I’m sorry I doubted you.  If you need help with the ranch you only have to ask.”

Kit took his hand and shook it firmly. “No apology necessary, Adam.  You could have been right and…”  she gave an evil little chuckle, “anyway, it made my story to Kenney much more believable.

“You think he will still try something, Pa?” Joe asked.

Ben shrugged. “He may, but I think Mr Kenney is going to be too busy trying to save his own skin to worry about us.”  He looked from one son to another.  “What are you all standing around here for?  We have a herd to get ready for a cattle drive.”

Adam and Joe grinned and moved toward their horses.  As they mounted up, Hoss glanced at Kit then at his father.  “If it’s okay with you, Pa, I’ll see Miss Kit home safely and make sure her hands are ready for the drive?”

Ben smiled at his middle son. “I think that’s a very good idea.  You stay over there and take care of things until we are ready to move out.”

Hoss couldn’t resist a triumphant look at his oldest brother and was surprised to find Adam smiling and giving him a wink.

Ten days later, Kenney’s operation was bankrupt, and he had gone into hiding.  Kit Hammond was settling down, with a new foreman in place, to become a rancher.  And a massive herd of Washoe beef moved out under the supervision of Ben Cartwright and the Ponderosa ranch hands.

The End